
Class. 
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PROCEEDINGS 



TAX-PAYERS' CONVENTION 



SOUTH C^^ROLII^A^, 



HELD AT COLUMBIA, BECtINNInG MAY 9th, AND 
ENDING MAY li^Tii, 1871. 



Published by Order of the Convention. 



CHARLESTON, S. C. : 

EDWARD PERRY, PRINTER, BOOKSELLER AND STATIONER, 
No. 149 Meeting Street, opposite Charleston Hotel. 

1871. 



Resolved, Tliat a committee of three be appointed by the cliair, 
who shall have charge of the publication of the proceedings and 
the defrayal of the expenses of this Convention ; and that the Sec- 
retaries of the Convention be authorized to pay over the funds in 
their hands, to the said committee. 

CO.MMITTKE. 

R. D. SENN, THOMAS V. SIMONS, MVRON FOX. 



CII. DIXON FOX, STENOGRAPHER. 



OFFICERS OF THE CONVENTION, 

PRKSIDENT, 

Hon. W. I). PORTER, Charleston. 

VICE-rRESIDENTS, 

Gen. M. C. BUTLER, Edgefield, 
Hon. C. W. DUDLEY, Marlboro', 
Hon. D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, Richland, 
Hon. GABRIEL CANNON, Spartanburg. 

SECRETARIES, 

W. M. OONNERS, Lancaster, 
MYRON FOX, Charleston. 



COMMITTEES. 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

1. James Chesiiut, State at Large. 

2. Johnson Hagood, State at Large. 

3. Thomas Y. Simons, State at Large. 

4. C. W. Dudley, First District. 

5. E. B. C. Cash, First District. 

6. F. F. Warley, First District. 

7. A. P. Aldrich, Second District. 

8. Henry Gourdin, Second District. 

9. H. C. Smart, Second District. 

10. William Wallace, Third District. 

11. R. L. McCaughrin, Third District. 

12. T. J. Goodwyn, Third District. 

13. J. L. Westmoreland, Fourth District. 

14. A. H. Davega, Fourth District. 

15. A. B. WoodrufF, Fourth District. 

{Added hy Hesolnlvrn.) 

16. John L. Manning. 17. M. L. Boiiham. 

18. A. Burt. 

COMMITTEE OF ELEVEN TO CONFER WITH GOVERNOR. 

{Rcsohdion of General Butler.) 

1. M.C.Butler, 4. B. W. Ball. 

2. Cadwallader Jones, 5. W. H. Wallace, 

3. Gabriel Cannon, 6. Richard Lathers, 



(5 

7. A. M. Lowry, 0. E. J. Scott, 

8. G. A. Trenholm, 10. W. B. Smith, 

11. T. C. Weatherly. 

rOMMITTEE OF SEVEN ON ELECTION AND SUFFRAGE LAW.S. 

{Resolution of General Gary.) 

1. M. W. Gary, 4. B. H. Wilson, 

i!. C. W. Dudley, 5. J. P. Thomas, 

n. William Wallace, 6. E. S. Keitt, 

7. J. H. Screven. 

COMMITTEE TO ME>[ORIALIZE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON CUMULA- 
TIVE VOTING. 

(Bcsolution of Mr. Hoyt.) 

•Tames A. Iloyt, l-^hvin .). Scott, 

D. H. Chamberlain, W. H. Wallace, 

M.W.Gary, B. 11. Wilson, 

Henry Gounlin. 

COMMITTEE TO PREPARE REPORT ON CONDITION OF THE STATE 
SINCE THE WAR. 

A. P. Aldrich, J. L. Manning, 

Armistead liurt, ^1. C. Butler, 

\V. D. Porter. 

COMMITTEE TO CONSULT WITH GOVERNOR ON POSTPONEMENT OF 
NOVEMPER TAX. 

{Colonel iS'i Dions' liesohdion.) 

Thomas Y. Simons, William M. Shannon, 

M. L. Bonham, James H. Giles, 

•T. P. Richardson. 



I 

7 

COMMITTEE ON EXPENSES AND PUBLICATION OF PROCEEDINGS. 

R. D. Senn, Thomas Y. Simons, 

Myron Fox. 

COMMITTEE TO CONFER WITH LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATING COM- 
MITTEE, 

Echvin J. Scott, Richard Lathers, 

AVilliam W. Wallace. 

COMMITTEE TO REPORT PLAN TO RESTORE CREDIT OF THE STATE. 

Thomas Y. Simons, James Chesnnt, 

F. F. Warley, Gabriel Cannon, 

M. C. Butler. 

COUNSELORS TO REPORT ON MATTER OF MORTGAGE OF BLUE 
RIDGE RAILROAD, ETC. 

Mr. Porter, Mr. Conner, 

James Chesnut. 

COUNSELORS TO REPORT ON MATTER OF POSTPONEMENT OF 
STATE LIEN ON CHARLESTON AND SAVANNAH RAILROAD. 

Mr. Pressley, Mr. Lord, 

Mr. Inglesbv. 



DELEGATES IN ATTENDANCE ON THE CONVENTION. 



Abbeville. — Hon. Armistead Burt, B. Z. Herndou. 

Anderson. — J. B. Sitton, James A. Hovt. 

Barnwell. — Gen. Johnson Hagood, T. J. Counts. 

Beaufort.— C^o\. H. C. Smart, Maj. J. H. Screven. 

Charleston. — Chamber of Commerce. — Hon. W. D. Porter. Hon. 
Geo. A. Trenholm. Board of Trade.— Col. Richard Lathers, Hon. 
Henry Gourdin. Citizens' Delegates. — W. B. Smith, Hon. Thos, 
Y. Simons, George Shrewsbury, Myron Fox. 

Chester. — J. S. Wilson, A. H. Davega. 

Chesterfield.— Gew. E. B. C. Cash, A. M. Lowry. 

Clarendon. — Hon. John L. Manning, Hon. J. P. Richardson, Jas. 
E. Tindall. 

Colleton.—:^. J. Fox, J. K. Terry. 

Darlington.— Qo\. F. F. Warley, Edward Mcintosh. 

Edgefield.— Gen. M. C Butler, James H. Giles. Gon. M. W. 
Gary, 0. Sheppard, A. P. Butler, Hon. M. L. Bonham. 

Fairfield.— 1. W. Woodward, Gen. John Bratton. 

Georgetown.— Wow. Benj. H. Wilson. 

Greenville. — Hon. J. L. Westmoreland. 

Kershaw. — Hon. James Chesnut, Col. W. M. Shannon. 

Lancaster. — W. M. Conners, J. B. Erwin. 

Laurens.— Col. B. W. Ball, G. W. Sullivan. 

Jjexington. — J. N. Huftman, F. S. Lewie. 

Marion. — Wm. Evans. 

Marlboro.— Wow. C. W. Dudley, Hon. T. C. Weatherly. 

Nevjberry.—Qo\. Ellison S. Keith, R. L. McCaughrin. 

Oconee.— Z. A. Doyle, W. C. Keith. 





Orangeburg. — Hon. T. J. Goodwyn, D. J. Euuiph, Col. A. D. 
Frederick. 

PicTcem.—^^ . E. Holcombe, D. F. Bradley. 

Richland. — Columbia Board of Trade. — -Edwin J. Scott, E. D. 
Senn. Citizens' Delegates. — Robert Adams, Col. Wm. Wallace, J. 
H. Kinsler, C. H. Baldwin, E. W. Wheeler, W. K. Greenfield, 
Hon. D. H. Chamberlain. 

Spartanburg. — Hon. Gabriel Cannon, A. B. Woodruff, Col. John 
H. Evins. 

Suviter.—^ o\\n B. Moore, F. H. Kennedy. 

Union. — Gen. W. H. Wallace. 

Williamsb itrg. — David Epps. 

York. — John R. London, Cadwallader Jones. 

Delegates admitted to jrrivileges of the floor, xcnder Resolutions of 
n the Convention. 

Col. J.^. Thomas, of Richland ; Hon. A. P. Aldrieh, of Barn- 
■well ; IJon. AV. D. Simpson, of Laurens ; Col. C. H. Suber, of ISTew- 
berry ; A. D. Goodwyn, of Orangeburg; W. H. Trescot^t!, of Green- 
ville : His Excellency Govornor R. K. Scott ; Hon. D. H. January, 
of St. Louis ; Hon. H. Y. M. Miller, of Georgia. 



PROCEEDIIGS. 



FIRST DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 



Tuesday, May 9, 1871. 



The Tax-Payers' Convention of the State of South Carolina, 
held at Columbia, 9th, lOth, 11th and 12th days of May, A. D. 
1871. 

In pursuance of a call made by the Charleston Chamber of Cum- 
merce and the Charleston Board of Trade, the delegates to the 
Convention assembled this day at 11 o'clock A. M., the meeting 
being held in the Senate Chamber of the State House. 

On motion of General M. C. Butler, from Edgefield, Hon. T. J. 
Goodwyn, of Orangeburg, was called to the chair, and called the 
Convention to order. 

Mr. Robert Adams, of Ptichland, was appointed temporary Sec- 
retary. 

On motion of Colonel T. Y. Simons, of Charleston, the Conven- 
tion took a recess for thirty minutes. 

Upon i-e-assembling, Mr. B. W. Ball, of Laurens, moved that a 
committee of nine be appointed to wait on delegates and examine 
credentials. 

The motion Avas subsequently withdrawn. 

The temporary Chairman rec[uested delegates to come forward 
and enroll their names at the Secretary's desk, when the following 
delegates appeared : 

Anderson. — J. B. Sitton. 

Barnxoell. — Johnson Hagood, T. J. Counts. 

Beaufort. — H. C. Smart, J. H. Screven. 



14 

Charldilrm. — W. D. Porter, G. A. Trenholm. George Shrewsbury, 
Thomas Y. Simons, Puchurd Lathers, lienry GourJin, Myron Fox. 

Chester. — J. S. Wilson, A. H. Uavega. 

C/icstrrfield.—E. B. C. Cash. 

Darlington. — F. F. Warley, ]']cl\vard Mcintosh. 

Edgefield.—M. C. Butler, James H. Giles, M. W. Gary, 0. Shep- 
pard, A. P. Butler. 

Georgetown. — Benjamin IT. Wilson. 

Greenville. — J. L. Westmoreland. 

Kershaw. — James Cliesnnt. 

Lancaster. — W. M. Conners, J. B. Frwin. 

Laurens. — B. W. Ball, (}. W. Sullivan. 

Lexington. — J. N. HufiVnan. 

Marion. — William Evans. 

Marlboro.— Q. \\\ Dudley, T. C. Weatherly. 

Newherry. — EllLson S. Keitt, R. L. McCaughrin. 

Orangeburg. — T. J. Goodwyn, D. J. Humph. 

Richland. — Columbia Board of Trade. — Edwin J. Scott, R. D. 
Senn. Citizens' Delegates. — Robert Adams, William Wallace, J. 
H. Kinsler, C. H. Baldwin. E. W. Wheeler, W. K. Greenfield, D. 
H. Chamberlain. 

^partanbiLrg. — G. Cannon, A. B. Woodruff. 

Union.— W. H. Wallace. 

Yorl\ — John R. London, Cad. Jones. 

Hon. James Chesnut, from Kershaw, offered the following rules 
of order, wIulIi were adopted : 

r.ULES OF ORDER. 

1. The officers of this Convention shall be a President, four 
Vice-Presidents and two Secretaries, to be chosen by ballot, the 
jjer.^ons receiving the highest number of votes to be declared 
elected. 

2. The President shall appoint a committee of three from the 
State at large, and three from each Congressional District, to be 
called the E.xecutive Committee, to whom shall be referred, with- 
out debate, nil memorials, motions, resolutions and other proposi- 



15 

tious bearing on the general business of the Convention, said com- 
mittee to appoint its own Chairman. 

3. The President shall appoint a Door-keeper and Messengers. 

4. The vote on all questions shall be taken by Congressional Dis- 
tricts, each County in District being entitled to two votes, except 
on a call for the ayes and noes, which may be ordered by any seven 
members. 

5. The debates and business of the Convention shall be regulated 
and governed by the rules of order governing the United States 
House of llepre-sentatives. 

6. No member shall occupy the floor longer than one hour, ex- 
cept by consent of the Convention ; nor shall any member speak 
more than twice to the same question, the second speech not to ex- 
ceed thirty minutes. 

7. Each member introducing a resolution, or other proposition, 
shall endorse on it his name and county. 

Mr. B. AY. Ball, of Laurens, moved that a committee of nine be 
appointed to report permanent officers. 

Mr. B. H. Wilson, of Georgetown, moved as a substitute, that the 
Convention proceed at once to ballot for permanent ofiicers. After 
debate by Gen. M. C. Butler, Col. T. Y. Simons, Col. Wm. Wal- 
lace, and Messrs. Ball and Wilson, the substitute was adopted by a 
vote, on division, of 24 to 21. 

In accordance with the rules of order previously adopted, the 
Convention proceeded to the election of a President, four Vice- 
Presidents, and two Secretaries. 

Mr. Chesnut nominated Mr. W. D. Porter, of Charleston, for per- 
manent President. 

Mr. Butler, nominated General M. W. Gary, of Edgefield, for 
permanent President. 

Mr. Gary declined the nomination and said : 

I am here not as an aspirant for any oflice within the gift of this 
Convention, but as a representative of the people of Edgefield. 
Since the results of the war have been so disastrous to us, I must 
confess that whatever ambition I might have had previous to that 
time, I have none now. I am, therefore, unwilling that by the use 
of my name the harmony of this Convention should be disturbed. 



16 

I do tliink, iit a lime like the present, when we are oppressed we- 
Klioidd present a united front; we should have no dilterences be- 
tween us. Actuated by these feelings, I must decline the nomination. 

The following gentlemen having been regularly nominated, were 
on motion declared unanimously elected as officers of the permanent 
organization : 

Frcsident — W. D. Porter, of Charleston. 

First Vice- President — M. C. Butler, of Edgefaeld. 

/Second Vice-President — C. W. Dudley, of Marlboro. 

Third Vice-President — D. H. Chambinlain, of Richland. 

Fourth Vice-President — Gabriel Cannon, of Spartanburg. 

Secretaries — Myron Fox, of Charleston, and W. M. Conners, of 
Lancaster. 

Mr. Chesnut moved that a committee of three be appointed to con- 
duct the President elect to the chair. The motion was carried, and 
the temporary chairman appointed as such committee Messrs. Jas. 
Chesnut, B. H. Wilson and Thos. Y. Simons. 

The President upon taking the chair said : 

Gentlemen of the Convention : 

I thank you for this compliment. It is prized the more highly, 
because I see around me so many of the old familiar faces, so many 
of the good men and true, to whom South Carolina, in her better 
days was accustomed to confide her honor and interests, and who 
are as faithful to her now as they Avere in those other days. My 
only regret is that the occasion of our meeting is not a more happy 
one. To protest against wrong, to rebuke corruption in high places, 
and to be obliged to take measures for the purpose of saving our- 
selves from impending and irretrievable ruin, may be a necessary 
duty, but it is not a pleasant one. As this duty has been placed 
upon us, let us discharge it fairly, manfully, and with fidelity to the 
great interests committed to our charge. 

The fundamental law of the State and of the United States se- 
cures to the people the right to assemble peaceably, and to seek by 
all lawful means, the redress of their grievances. It is admitted 
by fair-minded men of all parties that there are great public griev- 
ances ; and it is the hope, and the determination, if possible, to 
redress these grievances, that has called into being this Convention 
— a Convention unprecedented in the hi.story of our State ; a Con- 
vention which seeks for the holders of property and the payers of 



17 

taxes, a voice and a representation in the councils of tlie State. 
We have no legislative power, we are only an advisory body ; but 
we can inquire and investigate, we can collect and enabody infor- 
mation, and can advise the people as to the measures which we 
deem necessary and proper for their security in the future. Let 
us deliberate and act in all fairness and justice. If we nothing 
extenuate, let us set down naught in malice. While we are true 
to ourselves, let us be just to all men, and so demean ourselves in 
this great exigency of our affairs, as to secure for our cause 
the svmpathy and support of good men in every part of the coun- 
try. ' 

The first great wrong is the fearful and unnecessary increase of 
the public debt. An extraordinary increase is admitted on all 
hands. The people who have to pay these obligations ; those, 1 
mean, who own the property and pay the taxes, are entitled to 
know the amount and character of the public indebtedness; not 
merely the actual debt, but all contingent liabilities. A painful 
uncertainty rests over this matter. Let it be probed to the bottom. 
If the debt has been overstated, it will be a great relief to the peo- 
ple to know it. When a clear light is let in upon this matter, we 
.shall know where we are, and be the better able to face the situa- 
tion and its responsibilitips. 

Next, the applications of the public monies have been wild, 
reckless and profligate. This is without question; and perhaps 
never in the history of any people has this profligacy presented a 
bolder or more sha*neless iront. Corruption here does not hide 
itself in secret places and dark corners ; it stalks abroad, it flaunts 
itself in the light of day, it assumes the part and bearing of virtue, 
and openly boasts of its achievements. The end of these things, 
if not rebuked and checked, will be not only utter demoralization, 
but certain bankruptcy and ruin. 

The direct logical result of increased debt and reckless expendi- 
tures, is excessive taxation. This we have with a vengeance. Not 
only is the annual tax increased manifold, but by act of the late 
session of the Legislature, two tax levies are required to be paid 
within the limits of one year. This is an intolerable burden, and 
is calculated, even if it be not intended, to bring about a wide 
spread confiscation of property. And the worst feature of the mat- 
ter is the curious and anomalous fact, without parallel in the histo- 
ry of any representative government, that they who lay the taxes 
do not pay them, and that they who are to pay them have no 
voice in the laying of them. This is the actual practical operation 
of the thing. Can greater wrong or greater tyranny in republican 
o-overnment be well conceived I Less evils than this have produced 



18 

revolution. Indeed, taxation without ropresentation has been the 
turning point of many a revolution. 

The credit of the State is and can be dearer to none than to us. 
It has been the habitual policy of our people to keep the public 
credit not only untarnished, but unsuspected. We mean not repu- 
diation ; but we do mean openly and in the most solemn manner to 
give notice to ihe world that the credit of South Carolina has been 
strained to the utmost limit, and that whatever obligations hereaf- 
ter issued may be taken by capitalists, must be taken at their 
peril. 

Let me admonish you to be prudent and wise ; to avoid party 
politics, and to act with fairness and justice as well as firmness. 
To every fair-minded man who is willing to jjut the stamp of repro- 
bation upon corruption, and to go in good faith for economy, re- 
trenchment and an honest administration of public affairs, we ex- 
tend a welcoming hand. All such are our friends, and should be 
cordially welcomed to our ranks. 

The late war left this people almost impoverished. They had a 
sincere faith in their cause, and they gave to it of their means and 
resources with prodigal liberality. Their money and their invest- 
ments perished in their hands. Upon the issue of the war their 
whole shive property was wrested from them at a single stroke. If 
they had land, they had no labor and no means to cultivate it. — 
Never was there on the face of the earth a people more enti- 
tled to sympathy and generous treatment than the people of the 
South, at the end of the war. What treatment they did receive 
from those into whose hands the powers of government fell, let this 
Convention and its proceedings proclaim. In the name of that 
people, much abused, deeply wronged, and nearly ruined, I call 
upon you to summon up .such wise and prudent counsel, .such pa- 
tient, moderate and resolute bearing and action, as will secure for 
their cause the confidence and support of good and true men 
throughout the land. 

The chair is ready to receive any propositions for the further 
organization or business of the Convention. 

Mr. Johnson Hagood, of Barnwell, offered the following resolu- 
tion, which was agreed to : 

Bcsolved, That Mr. J. P. Thomas be invited to a seat on the 
floor, and to participate in the deliberations of the Convention. 

Mr. James Chesnut, of Kershaw, offered the following resolution, 
which was agreed to : 



19 

Resolved, That the Hon. A. P. Aldrich be invited to a seat on 
the floor of the Convention, and to participate in the deliberations 
of the body. 

Mr. M. AV. Gary, of Edgefield, offered the following resolution, 
which was agreed to : 

Resolved, That the privileges of the floor of this Convention be 
tendered to the Hon. D. A. January, of St. Louis, Missouri. 

Mr. M. C. Butler, of Edgefield, introduced the following reso- 
lution, which was agreed to : 

Resolved, That a committee of eleven be appointed by the Chair 
to confer with his Excellency Governor Scott, in pursuance of the 
fourth resolution of the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade 
of the City of Charleston, and report to this Convention in writing 
or otherwise. 

Also the following, which was agreed to : 

Resolved, That the Hon. Mr. Miller, United States Senator from 
the State of Georgia, be invited to a seat on the floor of this Con- 
vention. 

Mr, G. Cannon, of Spartanburg, offered the following resolu- 
tion, which was agreed to : 

Resolved, That it be referred to the Committee of Eleven to in- 
quire of the Governor how many and what amount of bonds he 
has signed under the various acts authorizing the same, and what 
disposition has been made of said bonds. 

Mr. B. AV. Ball, of Laurens, offered the following resolution, 
which was agreed to : 

Resolved, That it be referred to the Committee of Eleven to 
confer with Governor Scott and investigate and report to this body 
to what extent State and County officers have been unnecessarily 
increased since the organization of the State Government in 1868, 



20 

and witli the view to retrenchment and reform, and to what extent 
they might be dispensed with. 

Mr. Richard Lathers, of Charleston, spoke as follows on the reso- 
lutions of General M. C. Butler and Messrs. G. Cannon and B. \V. 
Bull : 

• Colonel Richard Lathers said that he felt that it would be proper 
for him as a repi'esentative of the Chamber of Commerce to state 
the views entertained by himself and other gentlemen at some 
length, to the end that the objects of the Convention might be 
clearly understood. 

Bv the reconstrui'tion policy, he continued, a system of Govern- 
ment was instituted in the State which is without example in the 
history of civilization for fraud, ignorance and oppression. The 
rights of property were ignored, intelligence disfranchised, laws 
and usages abolished, and the Legislature, and indeed every func- 
tion of the Judiciary and Government, State, county and city, was 
exercised (with few exceptions) by freed slaves without education, 
and white adventurers without conscience or the least sympathy in 
the rights and interests of those they undertook to govern. The 
few exceptions in the way of hone.^ty or capacity which brightens 
this dark picture of legislative depravity, more frequently justifies 
the conservative claims of the colored man to a patrioti* regard for 
his native State, than the production of any well-grounded hope of a 
2)ractical reform on the part of the overwhelming majority, whose 
aim seems to be to acquire wealth by the most unblushing corrup- 
tion. 

Indeed the members of the Senate and the House of Represen- 
tatives, as well as the officials, do not hesitate oj^enly to charge each 
other with fraud and corruption ; and there is a well settled tariff 
for legislative action of this hindmost accurately graduated. 

A considerable portion of the last session of the Legislature was 
consumed in mutual criminations of this kind, and one of the Sen- 
atoi's actually proclaimed his independence of investigations of 
fraud .and corruption on the ground that his own frauds would bear 
investigation quite as well as those of his accusers, and the chal- 
lenge was not accepted. The Governor of the State, in his veto of 
a bill for legislative expenses the last session, says: " I regard the 
money already appropriated during this se.-^sion and the sum in- 
cluded in this bill, amounting in the aggregate to four hundred 
thousand dollars, as simply enormous for one session. It is beyond 
the comprehension of any one how the General Assembly could le- 



21 

gitimately expend one-half that amount of money." And the 
matter turned out to be a fraud, as the Governor insinuates. Last 
winter a committee of both branches of the Legislature was appointed 
to investigate the frauds and blackmailing connected with the Blue 
Eidge Railroad legislation of the previous session. The Governor, 
the main witness, appeared before this committee, and accused the 
former Legislature of all sorts of villainy. Alluding to the bill 
granting aid to the road, the Governor says: "When the bill came 
up a member of the House came to one of the parties and said : 
' The rc2')ort cant go through until I get five hundred dollars.' '' 
And when an injunction was served on the fiscal ofiicers of the 
State to prevent the endorsement of the bonds, the Governor al- 
leges that the parties procuring the injunction proposed to with- 
draw the same if $25,000 would be paid. After many clear and 
explicit charges of fraud and corruptions, the Governor, with an 
honest burst of indignation against this corrupt body, says : " I know 
of the fact, or have been told so by a hundred different persons, 
that money had been paid to get a certain report through at the 
last session. I want to say; do you suppose that if our Saviour 
would come here with a bill ever so good, and want to get it 
through, or it was thought best to get up a committee to investigate 
Him, do you suppose he wouldn't be crucified again if he didn't 
pay something to prevent jt. * * * * I learned afterwards 
that they privately .lemanded of the President of the road $500 a 
piece, as it was publicly stated by themselves that they did not get 
enough out of the road when the bill passed." I need hardly oc- 
cupy your time with the hundreds of frauds and corruptions which 
are too well known to the public to need repetition, but I cannot 
refrain from calling your attention to the expenditures of the 
County Commissioners of Charleston for the current year ending 
October last, amounting to $238, 84L The Governor in his mes- 
sages, transmitting the same to the Legislature, properly remarks : 
That " these amounts are of startling magnitude, and it is worthy 
of consideration whether they cannot be materially reduced." I 
believe an investigation connected with these frauds has been had 
or proposed. 

ITEMS. 

Roads and bridges $108,225 

Public buildings 28,679 

Constables and Trial Justices 38,866 

Sherifi", Clerk of County and Coroner 62,671 



Total $238,841 



22 

Perhaps before tlie war these items wouhi have reached $50,000 
to $75,000. Trial Justices, State Constables and herds of expen- 
sive and useless officials are rapidly corrupting the people and eat- 
ing out their substance. 

When we reflect that this is the expense of but one of the thirty 
odd counties of the State, spending over a quarter of a raillion un- 
der the power of a mere commission, we need not be surprised that 
the taxes of the State this year reaches over $2,000,000, against 
less than $400,000 before the war. As the taxes to be paid this 
year aggregates over $4,000,000, as it includes two levies which is 
ten-fold the amount p)aid before the war in any one y^ar, we may 
well be constrained to look to our rulei'S for some mitigation, and 
ask for a convention of tax-payers to consider the grave issues 
which the ignorance and fraud of the Legislature are precipitating 
upon us in a 2")ractical confiscation of our property by taxation, and 
the probable loss to our creditors by the certain bankruptcy of the 
State. The recently developed frauds of the Land Commission, by 
which the State has been made to pay seven hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars for property acknowledged to be worthless for the 
purposes intended, and impossible of sale at even $L50.000, making 
a clear loss to our over-burthened tax-payers of $600,000 in a 
single year, which, before the war, would have paid the expenses 
of the State for one year and a half, is but the development of that 
class of legislation which the few honest and conservative men 
of the Radical party are unable to resist, unless the election laws 
can be so changed as to afford minority representation in the 
Legislature and all the offices throughout the State. 

This, I believe, can be effected with the co-operation of the re- 
spectable and honest Republicans, who are desirous to aid the Con- 
servative people of the State to obtain a fair show of influence in 
the making the laws and levying the taxes, which alike concern 
the interests of us all. 

The resolutions of the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of 
Trade, to which you have so patriotically responded, are plain and 
simple. They recognize the practical value of the right of repre- 
sentation, and the protection of the rights of property against fraud 
and misrule. They allege gross frauds on the part of the Legisla- 
ture and of many of the officials of the State. Apart from the uni- 
versal criminal representation, the quotations already cited being 
the honest admissions and indignant charges of his Excellency the 
Governor against his own party, proves beyond question the truth 
of these allegations, and also his inability to save the community 
from the preponderance of corruption in the Legislature, because 
the honest and intelligent portion of his party are too feeble in 



power to overcome the mass of ignorance and corruption which 
sways the destinies of the State. The action contemphxted by these 
resolutions is to give public notice that the sterling bonds must not 
be negotiated or regarded as binding on the property and good faith 
of the people of the State, and if argument and proofs of the wisdom 
and honesty of this measure were wanting," I should propose only 
to adduce the two protests entered in the journals of the two Houses 
against the passage of the bill authorizing the loan, but which were 
disregarded by the majority : 

We, the undersigned members of the Senate, protest against the 
passage of a bill entitled " A bill to create a debt of the State of 
South Carolina, to be known as the sterling funded debt, the same, 
or the proceeds thereof, to be exclusively used in exchange for or 
in payment of the existing public debt of the State of South Caroli- 
na," for the following reasons : 

1st. Because to create any further debt at the present time is un- 
wise and unnecessary. 

2d. Because the existing debt of the State is unknown, and a 
correct knowledge of it cannot be obtained. 

3d. Because it is admitted by the champions of this bill and its 
friends that the financial managers named in its text are not the 
proper persons to be clothed wit-h such a fiscal trust. 

4th. Because it will increase the burthen of taxation, now alrea- 
dy oppressive, and swell the aggregate of the interest on the exist- 
ing and the sterling funded debt to the amount of $1,000,000, or at 
the rate of six mills per dollar per annum upon all the jDroperty of 
the State of South Carolina. 

5th. Because the agent or agents who are to negotiate and man- 
age the proceeds of the sales of the $6,000,000 in sterling bonds 
for twenty years to come, are not required in any way to give secu- 
rity of any kind for the enormous trust confided to them. 

6tli. Because the question of such a large indebtedness, viz : — 
$6,000,000 in gold — the largest ever at any one time in the his- 
tory of the Legislature of the State of South Carolina authorized — 
should have been submitted to the qualified voters of the State fur 
their approval or rejection, before the General Assembly put it be- 
yond their power to control. 

7th. Because the credit of the State must be impaired as the 
column of indebtedness is increased. 

8th. Because the excessive taxation that is to follow this new 
created debt will produce discontent and dissatisfaction throughout 
the whole State, and will inspire opposition to the government, that 



24 

•will disrupt the peace and increase the disorder now so threatening 
and deplored in our community. 

(Signed,) B. F. WHITTEMORE, 

E. E. DICKSON, 
W. E. HOLCOMBE, 
JOHN WILSON, 
(i. W. DUVALL, 
D. BIEMAN, 
J. FOSTER, 

The protest of the members of the House : 

We think the measure a good one, and if properly managed 
and directed, might be productive of good and substantial results. 
But believing that a majority of those composing the " finan- 
cial boards" are without financial knowledge and experience, which 
is so eminently recjuired to successfully carry out such grave and 
important measures as the one in question, and further believing 
that such safeguards as will properly and efficiently protect the rights 
of the State have been neglected, we are constrained to vote as 
above indicated. 

(Signed,) E. IT. FROST, 

B. A. BOSEMON, 
CHARLES S. KUH, 
.JOSEPH D. BOSTON, 

C. .J. AN DELL, 
FORTUNE GILES, 
W. W. .TERVEY, 
M. GOGGINS. 

I will (_lose this evidence of fraud .and corruption by quoting 
from the jiirotest against the Greenville Railroad, made by leading 
minority members of the House, and entered in the journal Feb- 
ruary 26, 1871 : 

1st. Because it (the bill) is a deliberate and willful attempt on 
the part of those in whose interest the bill was framed, to enrich 
themselves at the expense of the State. 

4th. Because the effect of its passage will be to injure the credit 
of the State abroad, which even now does not rest upon the most 
secure and substantial basis, owing, we fear, to the mismanagement 
and cupidity of those to whom the attairs of the Stale are intrusted. 

Thus yoti will perceive I have confined myself to documentary 
proofs from radical official sources, and, did time permit, I could 
greatly swell the record from the proceedings of the Legislature 



25 

and ofticial publications of the past two years. Tlie conclusive rea- 
sons and facts produced by these able and timely protests of lead- 
ing senators and members of the House, recorded in the journals at 
the time of the passage of the bills, not only prove the corruption 
and unfitness of the Legislature and the leading officials entrusted 
with the funds of the State, and wielding the destinies of the peo- 
ple, but sustain these charges by radical testimony, which cannot 
be disputed, and which is most cre<litable to the conservative action 
of the individuals concerned, rising, as they do, above party issues, 
whose action and conservative statements I desire now to acknowl- 
edge as the most conclusive evidence of the propriety of resisting 
all future negotiations pledging the faith of the State, so long as the 
people whose property is to be pledged are denied the right of pro- 
tecting their interests by proper representation in the Legislature. 

Leaving for the discussion of others the various forms of oppres- 
sion and misrule under which the State suffers, I propose to call 
your attention to the repudiation of the party in power, and the 
disgrace which has fallen upon the hitherto unquestionable financial 
integrity of the State. I refer to the willful refusal to pay the ma- 
tured j^re locm debt. 

It appears that the Legislature of the State, in the session of 
1838, authorized the Crovernor to negotiate a loan for some two 
millions of dollars, to rebuild that part of the city of Charleston, 
then lying in ruins, caused by the destructive fire which had devas- 
tated that city — pledging not only the faith and credit of the State, 
but the capital and profits of the Bank of the State for the prompt 
payment of the interest and for the liquidation of the principle as 
the loan should mature. 

The proceeds of this loan were to be deposited in the Bank of the 
State, and to become a part of the capital of said Bank, to be loan- 
ed out to property-owners, in the burnt district of Charleston, secur- 
ed by bond and mortgage of the respective lots to be rebuilt upon 
by said loans. 

The president of the bank and the Governor of the State, jointly, 
appointed Mr. McDuifie as their agent to proceed to London and 
negotiate the loan. On Mr. McDuffie's arrival in London, he pitb- 
lished an address, in which he made the following statement : 

The Legislature, in order to make assurance doubly sure, has 
provided that, in addition to the general pledge of the faith and re- 
sources of the State, particular funds shall be specifically appro- 
priated and solemnly pledged and s'et apart to secure the punctual 
payment of the interest and principal of this loan. As this fund 
will partly consist of the profits which shall accrue from the two 



26 

millions now to be borrowed, the moJ(i in which it is to be used will 
be stated. It is to be deposited in the Bank of the State of South 
Carolina, as so much capital, to be employed, by tliat bank, acting 
as the fiscal agent of the State, in accomplishing the objects of the 
loan, viz : to aid the citizens of Charleston to rebuild their city. 

L'pon the faith of these representations and pledges of the legis- 
lative enactments referred to, Messrs. Baring Brothers & Co. oe- 
came the purchasers of the larger portion of the bonds, and through 
their influence most of the balance was negotiated, on most favora- 
ble terms to the State, I think, at 93 per cent., and at the low rate 
of 5 per cent, interest, because of the peculiar nature of the securi- 
ty, having not only the honor and faith of the State, which had 
always met its engagements promptl}', but had also the capital and 
profits of the bank to fall back upon, and the further power of a 
legal remedy in the courts in case of default of payment, which 
remedy could not be resorted to again.«t a sovereign State. 

The bank, therefore, became not oidy the debtor of the holder of 
these bonds, but was agent for the State and trustee for the credit- 
ors. The proceeds of these loans were lent out by the bank as con- 
templated by the statute. Charleston was rebuilt and the loans 
made long since returned to the bank, with a large profit to the 
State on the transaction, interest charged by the bank being much 
greater than the interest paid by it to the English capitalists — 
£123,500 matured as was paid by the bank in 1858, leaving out- 
standing £109,000 ; in round numbers, about $545,000 in gold, 
which became payable July 1, 1865. 

The Legislature of 1865, finding the State unable to pay these 
obligation;^ promptly, did honestly propose to devote the assets of the 
bank to the payment of these bonds and the outstanding circula- 
tion, giving the preference to the bonds, under the pledges made by 
Mr. McDuffie, and the statute under which he negotiated the loan. 
But the present administration initiated a policy which has led to 
expensive and troublesome litigation, and this loan left unpaid and 
virtually repudiated for five years, although the Messrs. Baring of- 
fered to renew the bonds on the same liberal terms which had been 
extended to the State of Massachusetts in London, provided the 
securities originally pledged should be devoted in good faith to the 
indebtedness. Another issue of this fire loan, made about the same 
time, in the United States, under the same statute, and for the same 
purpose, amounting to $318,000, and advertised to be paid in gold, 
January 1, 1871, was repudiated also, although the fiscal agent, 
Mr. Kimpton, gave notice, by public advertisement, in Now lork, 
Columbia and Charleston, that principal and interest would be paid 
on that da v. 



27 

It is true that legal questions have arisen between various credit- 
ors of the Bank of the State as to priority of loans. But this liti- 
gation seems to be the only resource of the creditors as long as the 
authorities of the State continue to repudiate the indebtedness of 
the State ; for in all issues now pending against the assets of the 
Bank the State is bound, in good faith, to pay the litigants, because 
the State is liable for the deficiency of the bank to make good its 
obligation. 

The want of financial skill is as evident as the repudiation of 
these debts are glaring and dishonest. How can a State hope to 
negotiate loans when defaulting in payments already due, and at- 
tempting also to deprive the creditor of securities, pledged in good 
faith, to obtain the loan ? 

While these legislators were repudiating their contracts with the 
Messrs. Baring, and refusing to make any provision for the payment 
of their fire loan bonds, due five years since, and even passing laws 
to deprive them of the assets of the bank pledged for the security 
of these bonds — in a spirit of extraordinary liberality with the tax- 
payers" money, they were passing laws to increase the burdens of 
the people by the payment of interest on the bonds in gold, which 
bonds they had largely purchased at a great depreciation, and by 
investing $750,000 in land to be distributed among their favorites ; 
and all this time they kept an agent in New York, borrowing the 
money on call, and hypothecating the bonds of the State in the 
wildest manner, and endorsing the bonds of railroads to an almost 
indefinite extent, so that leading members of the Senate openly 
avowed their inability to compute the actual indebtedness of the 
State as I have already quoted to you. Are you surprised that the 
credit of the State should have fallen so low ? Repudiation is al- 
ways a crime which never fails to bring lasting and severe punish- 
ment home to the perpetrators. An individual or a State may 
become so reduced by misfortune or bad management as to be una- 
ble to meet obligations, but no individtial or State has ever profited 
by an exercise of bad faith, no matter how ingenious the arguments 
■used in justification. 

I have seen the Governor of a State almost repulsed from a 
banker's office when applying for a loan, with United States bonds 
as security, because his State had repudiated some territorial issues 
of bonds. The banker refused to hold intercourse with him 
officially. 

South Carolina has been terribly impoverished by the war, and 
her sons insulted and robbed by these adventurers which have been 
forced upon her, but the honor of the State is in the custody of her 
sons, and will suft'er no diminution at their hands. 



28 

We have everything here but a good government and active cap- 
ital. Our people are intelligent, industrious, and honest; our soil 
is productive and our climate genial. Controversies like this, it" 
conducted with conservative decision, will gi-adually enlist large 
numbers out of the ranks of the party which have been acting 
against us. I am confident that the conservative element of that 
party are ashamed of their company, and are too American at 
heart to sustain the practices and measures we complain of. Capi- 
tal will How in upon us when we can demonstrate the safety and 
profit of investments in our productive industry, by the suppression 
of the frauds and extravagance which now threaten to drive the 
State into bankruptcy, as our rulers have already disgraced us by 
repudiation. Railroads and manufactories will be organized, and 
our laborers will be able to enjoy the fruits of their industry, which 
is now taken from them under the forms of taxes, to pamper cor- 
rupt and ignorant representatives who amuse the newspaper corres- 
pondence of the country, and demonstrate that civilization is not 
always onward, even when directed by the party of progress. 

While we must investigate and use every eftbrt to correct the 
evils which have befallen the State, and co-operate with all parties 
and all persons who will lend us a helping hand to restore her to 
her former position of dignity and power, and her citizens to all 
the rights and immunities becoming freemen, still we must not be 
discouraged if our progress falls below our hopes. We cannot dis- 
guise from ourselves that the fearful losses of the late civil war 
have not only seriously impaired our power of reproduction as 
citizens of this State, but have also entailed heavy burdens on us 
as citizens of the United States. The production of wealth must 
be necessarily slow for years to come, and therefore the greater ne- 
cessity of enforcing the most rigid economy on those who expend 
the public money of the State and that of the Federal Government. 

The taxable value of the property of the State, in 1800, was 
$490,000,000, and the taxes only $392,000 ; now the taxable pro- 
perty has been reduced to $184,000,000, and the taxes increased to 
$2,000,000 — so, you perceive, while your property has been reduced 
to less than half its former value, your taxes have been increased 
five hundred per cent. 

Indeed, the recent census reports show a heavy decrease in the 
property of the Southern States, nearlv 2,000,000,000, and the 
present debt of the United States, say ^2,500,000,000, just about 
balances the accumulations of the people for the past ten years, 
leaving no profits — and hence the steady but slow decline of real 
estate and other property depending on aci-umulations of wealth 
for an advance in price. 



29 

The Government of the United States are now drawing from the 
hard earnings of the people some $400,000,000 per annum, which 
is at least $1,000,000 more than the surplus earnings have shown 
for the yearly average of the last ten years. 

From 1850 to 1860 the increase of wealth in the United States 
was $4,500,000,000, or but $450,000,000 annuallv. From 1860 to 
1870 the increase is but $2,500,000,000, or 250^,000,000 annually. 
I simply adduce these figures to show that we must not be too san- 
guine for the future with these burdens of Eadical rule in the 
National and State governments thrown upon us. Nor yet must 
we be discouraged by the falling off in value of real estate and other 
property, and the limited profits of our industry. With all these 
drawbacks, we compare favorably with every section of the coun- 
try. And the restoration of intelligent and honest men to powei', 
working under the true doctrines of the Constitution at Washington 
and Columbia, which is not far off, will soon restore that prosperity 
and true national greatness which formerly characterized us as a 
people. 

Mr. Lathers suggested that there be appointed : 

1. A committee to confer with the Governor on the necessity of 
extending the time for the payment of the November taxes. 

2. A committee to investigate the indebtedness of the State, the 
books and accounts of the Treasurer and Comptroller, and compare 
the same with the statutes for raising and disbursing the monies of 
the State. 

3. A committee to investigate the accounts of the fiscal agent of 
the State in New York. 

4. A committee to inr|uire into the amount of money annually 
raised by taxation, and whether there is an}^ necessity for the ex- 
cessive taxation now imposed on the peojile. 

5. A committee to inquire into the grievances, the frauds and 
extravagancies caused by the anti-American principle of taxation 
without rejiresentation, and report a remedy for the same. 

6. That an Executive Committee be appointed who, together 
with the President of this Convention, shall have it in charge to 
protect the interest represented by this Convention in the interval 
of adjournment, to keep in view the current legislation of any fu- 
ture meeting of the Legislature, and to call together at such time 
as they may deem expedient. 



30 

7. That this Couveniion confirm the action aiui resolutions of the 
Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce of Charleston, in re- 
spect to the sterling loan. 

8. That a committee be appointed to investigate and report a 
plan to restore the credit of the State, and to confer with the rep- 
resentatives of the " fire loan securities " of the State, which have 
been practically repudiated by the State authority, with a view to 
repair the damages to the good faith and honor of the State, by in- 
fluencing an early liipiidation of these obligations. 

Mr. Ellison Keitt, of Newberry, offered the following resolu- 
tions : 

Hcsolvcd, That the President of this body be, and he is hereby 
authorized, to appoint a committee of six to draw up a petition set- 
ting forth the grievances of the people of this State, and asking the 
President and Congress to take charge of the State and put it upon 
an enduring foundation — a foundation that will secure a fair repre- 
sentation of tlie people, that we may go to work, and not only build 
up our own State, but aid in advancing the prosperity and the 
glory of the Republic. 

Resolved, That the several counties of the State are respectfully 
invited to meet at their respective Court Houses on the first Mon- 
day in June next, and apjjoint two delegates, who will meet in Co- 
lumbia on the Monday following, when, after organizing, they will 
proceed in a. body to Washington City, and present the petition to 
the President. 

The rule was suspended, the resolutions considered immediately, 
and laid upon the table. 

Mr. E. B. C. Cash, of Chesterfield, otfered the following resolu- 
tion, which was considered immediately and agreed to: 

Resolved, That the Governor of the State of South Carolina be 
invited to a seat on the floor of this Convention. 

Mr. F. F. Warley, of Darlington, offered the following resolu- 
tions : 



31 

Resolved, That it be referred to the Executive Committee to in- 
quire and report upon what terms and for what consideration the 
making and execution of the Blue Ridge Railroad Company, and 
other companies, of a mortgage to Henry Clews, Henry Gourdin 
and George S. Cameron, to secure the payment of certain bonds, 
was ratified and confirmed by the Legislature, and the said mort- 
gage declared to be a " lien prior to that of the State on all prop- 
erty described in said mortgage, and on the entire line of the Blue 
Ridge Railroad, and on all other properties of the several compan- 
ies, or which they, or either of them, may hereafter acquire." 

Resolved, That the committee be instructed to report what ac- 
tion, if any, can be taken by this body to prevent the subordina- 
tion of the State's lien upon the line of the Blue Ridge Railroad, 
and the entire properties of the other companies, to the junior 
claims of private individuals. 

The resolution was considered immediately, agreed to, and the 
subject matter referred to the Executive Committee. 

Mr. M. W. Gary offered the following resolution, which was con- 
sidered immediately and agreed to : 

Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed to memorial- 
ize the Governor and the Legislature of this State as to the expe- 
diency of repealing or modifying the election laws of this State, 
and that said committee do report upon the expediency of adopting 
the cumulative system of voting, or such system as will protect the 
rights of minorities. 

The Convention then took a recess until 4 P, M. 



EVENING SESSION 



The Convention re-assembled at 4 o'eloclv P. M., the President, 
Hon. W. D. Porter, in the chair. 

The following additional delegates appeared at the Secretary's 
desk and enrolled their names : 

Charlesfoyi.—Ay . B. Smith. 
Chester fi eld. —AUved M. Lowry. 

Clarendon. — John L. Manning, John P. Pdehardson and James 
E. Tindall. 

Fairfield. — John Bratton, T. W. Woodward. 
Kershaxu. — -Wm. M. Shannon. 
Lexington. — F. S. Lewie. 
Sumter. — John B. Moore, F. H. Kennedy. 
Williavisbarn. — David Epps. 

The President laid before the Convention a comnmnication from 
the Hon. J. L. Keagle, Comptroller General, presenting copies of 
the annual report of his Department, and statements of the jiublic 
debt. 

The reports and statements were ordered to be distributed among 
the delegates. 

The President announced the following committee of eleven un- 
der the resolution of Gen. M. C. Butler : 



COMMITTEE OF ELEVEN. 

Messrs. M. C. Butler, Cadwallader Jones, Grabriel Cannon, B. W. 
Ball, W. H. Wallace, Richard Lathers, A. M. Lowry, G. A. Tren- 
holm, E. J. Scott, W. B. Smith, T. C. Weatherly. 

Also the following committee of seven under the resolution of 
Gen. M. W. Gary : 

COMMITTEE ON ELECTION AND SUFFRAGE LAWS. 

Messrs. M. W. Gary, C. W. Dudley, William Wallace, B. H. 
Wilson, J. P. Thomas," E. S. Keitt, J. H. Screven. 

Also the following to compose the Executive Committee, under 
the rules of order offered by Gen. J. B. Kershaw, and adopted by 
the Convention : 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Messrs. James Chesnut. Johnson Hagood, Thomas Y. Simons, C. 
W. Dudley, E. B. C. Cash, F. F. Wai'ley, A. P. Aldrich, Henry 
Gourdin, H. C Smart, William Wallace, R. L. McCaughrin, A. D. 
Goodwyn, J. L. Westmoreland, A. H. Davega, A. B. Woodrufi". 

Mr. C. W. Dudley, of Marlboro, took the floor and spoke as fol- 
lows : 

I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of introducing certain re- 
solutions, and desire to preface their introduction, with a few ex- 
planatory remarks. In doing this, I hope the Convention will ex- 
cuse me, if by dealing in a spirit of candor, they should listen to 
opinions not strictly in harmony with those that were at one time 
very generally entertained under the pressure of a common danger. 
It is becoming, that those who give a public expression to their 
opinions, should do so in all sincerity, with the single view of con- 
tributing counsel, which has at least the merit of perfect honesty, 
and is not shaped in any degree by a desire to render it popular. 
It has not been my habit, in past life, to attempt to amuse a delib^ 
erative assembly with exhibitions of this character, and now at this 
day, with the advantages of a hard experience, it would be still 
more out of place to consult such a monitor on an occasion like the 
present. 

I see before me the representative men of the once glorious old 
State of South Carolina. They have not met as of yore, to rejoice 



34 

in the traditions of the past, and to stand erect in the consciousness- 
of intelligence, wealth and character rightly appreciated, but they 
have come together as mourners, sorrowing for the loss of all they 
held valuable in life, and inquiring whether there be not some way 
in which the final catastrophe of barbarism, that is fast spreading 
its dark pall over their beloved land, may be averted, and possibly 
some means be discovered by which wealth, intelligence and pa- 
triotism may once more be estimated at their proper value, in ad- 
ministering any government, wherein they can be found. It is in- 
deed melancholy to look around upon the wreck of all that Caro- 
linians once held dear. The stately mansion, where once was dis- 
pensed the elegant hospitality of a southern home, is now tenanted 
by poverty and broken hearts. Strangers have come in, and ap- 
propriated to themselves all the offices of profit and trust, whilst 
they who were to the manor born, have no voice in the legislation 
of their own country, and are chained down to the soil, only to be 
taxed to support the authors of their ruin ! The privilege of the 
ballot, once so dear to every freeman, has, under the disguise of a 
principle, been converted into an instrument by which the white 
man has been robbed of his influence, and the African race, unac- 
customed to the duties of a statesman, have been transferred from 
scenes of daily labor in the fields, and assigned to discharge the 
functions of the legislator, and the judicial magistrate. 

The picture is too sad to be drawn out fully, to the extent of its 
hideous proportions ; and is only referred to here, as a part of the 
history of the times, of great value in determining the principles 
upon which this Convention will proceed at the present time. If by 
an injudicious course heretofore pursued at certain crises of our for- 
tunes, nothing but calamity has been the result, it may be well to 
inquire, whether it is not time now to change the policy which 
once pi'evailed, and adopt that which is recommended by the judg- 
ment, although it may not gratify the passions. The bravest of 
soldiers cannot resist destiny, nor will his good judgment counsel 
him to do so, but rather to accept the situation with the best grace- 
he can, which adverse circumstances have forced upon him. 

Had this principle prevailed in 1865, South Carolina might have 
been admitted into the Union forthwith, without the terrible con- 
ditions which were afterwards exacted. Had there been sufficient 
evidence in the elections, that past issues were really buried and 
forgotten, the reconstruction of the goverment would have been at- 
tended with few or no changes, distasteful to the Southern mind. 
But human nature, smarting under defeat, asserted itself in still 
clinging to old issues, and thereby admonished the dominant party, 
that there was danger stiU from an element, which though crushed, 



35 

had not been killed. A series of precautionary measures were adopted, 
cnlminatin» in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitu- 
tion, Avhereby many of the most prominent citizens of the State 
were subjected to disabilities, and thereby excluded for a time from 
the large influence they had once exerted over the affairs of the 
people. In the morbid condition of the public mind, which then 
existed, the Legislature of South Carolina rejected this proposition, 
with only one dissenting voice. Voters were called in, to whom 
these measures were not distasteful, and the result has been, that 
the power of the white man has been taken away, and he has been 
compelled, hitherto to look in silence, upon the sacking of his home, 
by foreign adventurers, in control of the voting pdpulation, until at 
last, human nature, impelled by the instincts of self-presetvation, 
has sought relief in the deliberations of this Convention. 

Taught by a bitter experience how little can be gained by re- 
sisting the power which has controlled these events, it remains for 
the people to accept them in the best spirit they can, as accom- 
plished, irreversible facts. With a knowledge of what is before 
them, it is not impossible for the public mind to adapt itself to the 
necessities of the situation, and gradually to become reconciled to 
contend for the prizes of life, even under conditions like these. 
Where nothing can be gained by standing sullenly still, whilst others 
are plucking all the fruits of energy and effort, a wise policy plain- 
ly indicates that we too, conscious of the powers to maintain the 
contest with them on equal terms, should at once enter the lists, 
and achieve the restoration of the State to the hands of those who 
will consult only its honor and its lasting prosperity. Let the 
world know that this only is our ambition ; that the foundations of 
the State Government having been laid, we intend peaceably to 
build up the superstructure, and take our chances for the future 
with such oppoi'tunities as the results of the war have left at our 
command. 

When this shall be fully understood, the sympathies of the 
Northern heart will be with us. Apprehending revolution no longer, 
the power which has been directed against us will come to our res- 
cue to avert the impending calamity of barbarism, and restore the 
civil government into the hands of virtue, intelligence and patriot- 
ism. The future prosperity of South Carolina cannot be a matter 
of indifference to the statesmen of the North, for they know too 
well that the gangrene which destroys the extremities, will in due 
time reach the heart of the republic. We will have their aid in 
all that tends to the rebuilding of the magnificent structure of the 
Union, and maintaining its perpetuity. If there are elements here 
at work, whic^ threaten the hopes of the true patriot in that regard, 



36 

we will not be alone in the virtuous effort to expel tliem, and side 
by side, the North and the South will mar.ch together, to the victory 
which virtue and intelligence must always demand over ignorance 
and depravity. Already, are the republican organs in other States 
beginning this battle for the right. No longer the enemies of their 
white brothers, who are willing to be their friends, we find them 
boldly denouncing the evils of which we so justly complain, and 
with the resistless current of public sentiment, which will ere long 
sweep over this whole land, these political cancers will be eradicated, 
and the bright lamp of hope will again illumine the path of the 
South Carolinian and reconcile him to his country. 

This, and this only, is the path of true wisdom. Nothing really 
valuable can be achieved in any other way. For it must not be 
forgotten, that no measure of civil polity can be forced upon a ma- 
jority of 30,000 voters, without their free and full consent. The 
colored population must give us their assistance in any reforms 
which are contemplated. This they will do, just as soon as they 
discover that their former owners are completely reconciled to their 
new condition. If they have turned from us heretofore, from a 
suspicion that their newly acquired rights had been grudgingly 
granted, and were not safe in the hands of those who had never 
recognised them as equals, this was but natural — and we are com- 
pelled to admit, that under similar circumstances we would have 
done so ourselves. They have looked for protection to others, because 
they were afraid to trust their all to those who might have a mo- 
tive to betray that trust. 

Here, then, lies the difficulty to overcome. If it has been the 
work of years to educate the white people of this State to a proper 
sense of their real condition and of their true interests, the same 
lapse of time has taught lessons of wisdom to the colored race also, 
and they are beginning to see that all the "protection"' they really 
have had, has been the privilege of^^^voting for those whom they 
have enriched, at the expense of the suffering and poverty of their 
former owners, whilst they are still poor themselves, and are thrown 
back upon the same owners for the bread which keeps alive their 
wives and children. They mttst see that this is the source from which 
they are to draw their supplies in future — and that their interest 
lies in preventing mere strangers and adventurers from taking 
every thing themselves, in the form of unnecessary and oppressive 
taxation. The day is fast approaching, when the native Carolinian 
and the colored man will be in perfect accord in all measures for 
their muttial protection, and the 30,000 votes which have spread 
such ruin over the State will turn their batteries against those who 
have selfishly destroyed the people to enrich themselves, and make 



37 

the colored race poorer still, who were poor enough before. As a 
race, they are kind hearted and aftectionate, and desire to lean 
upon those with whom they played in their childhood. 

With natures thus inclined, our task of perfect reconciliation is 
easy. Let us be not only just to them, but generoiis. The obliga- 
tion is upon us. They gave us their work during the war, when an 
obvious self-interest might have stimulated their hostility. They 
protected our families by all the means in their power, when the 
white man was on the distant battle field, and his home was without 
other protectors. Surely, if ever there was a debt, founded on the' 
strongest moral obligation, it will be found in the humble claims 
which the colored man now makes upon his former owners, and this 
is, only that they may be protected in the rights which the results 
of the war have given them — rights, which they never demanded 
tor themselves, but have only accepted at the hands of others. 

Upon this easy condition, this 30,000 majority, heretofore hostile, 
will melt away, as a huge glacier under the warming rays of the 
sun. It may not be the work of a moment, but the result is only 
a question of time. Already is it commenced, and the relations 
between the races are now far more cordial than they have ever 
been since the war. Now, let this Convention, composed as it is 
of the heroes of many a battle field, rise up to the moral heroism of 
proclaiming to the world their unalterable purpose to repay the 
kindness and fidelity of the colored man by an unreserved ac- 
knowledgment of his newly acquired rights, and such a pledge, com- 
ing from the representative men of South Carolina, who have never 
yet learned to equivocate, or evade, will be respected by all those 
who are capable of appreciating properly the obligations of per- 
sonal honor. 

With these introductory remarks, I beg to submit to the Conven- 
tion the following resolutions : 



Mr. Dudley introduced the following resolutions : 

The delegates to the Tax-payers Convention, now met and sitting 
in Columbia, S. C, desiring to be fully understood by their fellow 
citizens of this State, and of the United States, do consider it pro- 
per and becoming to make this declaration, setting forth the causes 
which have called them together, and the objects which they have 
in view. 

At the close of the war, in 1865, the people of South Carolina 
were bowed down by hard realities, which, in the very nature of 



38 

things, would require the lapse of years to make tolerable. The 
task before them, was to take to their arms the people who had 
humiliated them by defeat ; to unlearn the glorious traditions of 
the past ; to disavow the well settled opinions, in which they felt 
to .be involved, all they held dear in the history of their native 
State ; to surrender the wealth which they had inherited or ac- 
quired, and consent to the hard lot of the bankrupt, for themselves 
and their families ; to feel that henceforth their social position whs 
to be one of sackcloth and ashes, in which they would be compelled 
to recognize their former slaves as their equals, and receive them as 
visitors in their parlors; to see their proud old State in the hands 
of strangers, whilst the native born citizen, qualified by education to 
guide and direct the administration of its internal affairs, was only 
allowed to stand at the door, and pay the expense of those who 
caroused within. 

It might have been more artful for those who had to undergo this 
ordeal, to have smiled hypocritically, and sung hymns of praise to 
their own humiliation. But true to the instincts of nature, their 
honest aims went no farther than to discover how to mitigate the 
severity of their sufferings, by a quiet acquiescence in the portion 
fixed upon them by the results of the war. 

Hence, in sorrow and apprehension, they have plodded their 
weary way, for the last six years, and with the hard lessons of a 
bitter experience, have gradually reached conclusions, which enable 
them now to declare. 

Resolved, 1. That they meditate no resistance whatever to the 
Government of the United States, under its present administration, 
and intend in respect thereof to conduct themselves as peaceful, 
law-abiding citizens. 

2. That however distasteful the reconstruction measures have 
been to the Southern mind, we now view them as finalities, and re- 
cognize the duty of obeying them in letter and in spirit, and as far 
as in our power lies to make that duty pleasant. 

3. That we look to time, and to peaceful measures only, for the 
solution of any difficulties that now exist or may hereafter exist in 
the administration of the affairs of this State, and we entertain the be- 



39 

lief, that all the changes and modifications that may be desired in 
that connection can and will be eftected by the quiet influence of 
an enlightened public opinion. 

4. That the exigencies of the times demand from the people other 
efforts than those intended to promote the success of any " party.;'' 
their true interests consisting in uniting with good citizens of any 
and all parties in promoting the welfare of every section and of 
every class of the people. 

5. That we deprecate any and all local disturbances arising out 
■of the irritation consequent upon the supposed mal-administration 
of public affairs in the State, and our appeal to the people to re- 
spect the laws and to look to them only for the redress of such 
grievances as may now or hereafter exist, and unite with their fel- 
low citizens in a continual effort to promote the cause of peace and 
harmony amongst all classes of the people and secure the permanent 
prosperity of the State. 

These being the principles intended to regulate the conduct of the 
people of this State, we feel prepared to co-operate with the author- 
ities in all necessary reforms and improvements in the government, 
having for their object the best interests of the commonwealth ; 
and that we have the right to present to them for redress any 
grievances of which we may justly complain. And, in the exercise 
of that right, we ask for relief in the following particulars : 

1. The adoption by the Legislature of such methods of voting as 
will secure a representation therein of a minority of the voters. 

2. Retrenchment in the expenses of the State by abolishing every 
office that can be dispensed with, and the reduction of the salaries 
of those which are necessarily retained. 

3. That the public debt shall not be increased, and that His Ex- 
cellency the Governor be requested, as far as lies in his power, to 
arrest the issue and negotiation of the bonds, created under a re- 
cent act of the Legislature, for funding the debt of the State. 

Believing that the principles above proposed really actuate the 
great masses of the people, it is the purpose of this Convention to 



40 

attain the ends above indicated, and such other kindred mea.'ure 
as may appear necessary hereafter, by such peaceful and legiti- 
mate means as comport with the duty of good citizenship, and not 
otherwise. 

The resolutions were referred to the Executive Committee. 

Mr. F. F. Warley, of Darlington, introduced the following reso- 
lutions, which were referred to the Executive Committee : 

Resolved, Tliat this Convention earnestly exhort the people of 
the State to abstain from all acts of violence, calculated to supplant 
the regular and due administration of justice, and to rely upon the 
law and other proper agencies for the redress of those grievances 
of which they justly complain. 

Resolved, That His Excellency Governor Scott having expressed 
a desire to appoint good men to office, it is but due to him that the 
citizens of every county should communicate freely with him in 
reference to the fitness and qualifications of his appointees, and give 
him the opportunity to remove those who have shown themselves 
to be inefficient, unworthy or unfit for the offices they hold. 

Resolved, That we recommend the people throughout the State, 
without respect to political opinions, to assemble in primary meet- 
ings, and earnestly and respectfully petition the Legislature to abol- 
ish the numerous useless offices which are sustained by taxation, to 
repeal the many obnoxious and unequal laws which encumber our 
statute books, and to enact such laws as will secure to the tax -pay- 
ers a fair representation in the Legislature. 

Mr. A. P. Aldrich, from Barnwell, ofifered the following resolu- 
tion, which was referred to the Executive Committee : 

Resolved, That the Executive Committee do inquire and report 
on the grievances of taxation without adequate representation in 
the taxing body, and suggest a remedy for the existing evil. 

Mr. D. H. Chamberlain, from Richland, offered the following 
resolution, which was referred to the Executive Committee : 



41 

Resolved, That a committee of five be raised to examine and re- 
port upon the accounts of the State with tlie Financial Agent of the 
State in New York, and that they apply to the Governor for his aid 
and authority to make this examination. 

Also introduced the following preamble and resolution, which 
was referred to the Executive Committee : 

Whereas, The material welfare of the propert3^-holders and 
tax-payers of this State demand the faithful enforcement of the 
laws for the protection of life and property ; and, 

Whereas, Violence and crime, if permitted to go unpunished, 
tend inevitably to derange the industry, paralyze the enterprize, 
and destroy the national welfare of our State ; therefore, 

Resolved, That the Executive Committee of this Convention be 
instructed to inquire into the alleged violence now prevailing in 
several counties of this State, and to report upon a plan for the 
better execution of the laws against such violence, and the better 
protection of all citizens in their lives and property throughout the 
State. 

The Convention then adjourned to meet to-morrow at 12 M. 



SECOND DArS PEOCEEDD'GS. 



Wednesday. May 10, 1871. 



Pursuant to adjournment, the Convention met at 12 M., the 
President, Hon. W. D. Porter, in the chair. 

The President announced the Convention ready to proceed to 
business. 

The Secretary read the journal of yesterday's proceedings. 

On motion, the journal was confirmed. 

The following additional delegates came forward and enrolled 
their names : 

Ahheville. — Armistead Burt, B. Z. Herndon. 

Ayidersoii. — James A. Hoyt. 

Edgefield. — M. L. Bonham. 

Pickens.— \\. E. Holcombe, D. P. Bradley. 

Oconee. — J. A. Doyle, William C. Keitt. 

Orangeburg. — A. D. Frederick. 

Mr. Gary moved a suspension of the rules for the introduction 
of the following resolution : 

Hesolved, That W. D. Simpson, of Laurens ; C. H. Suber, of 
Newberry; A. D. Goodwyn, of Orangeburg, and W. H. Trescott, 
of Greeneville, be invited to seats upon the floor of the Convention, 
and to participate in the deliberations. 

Leave was granted, the resolution considered immediately and 
adopted. 



44 

Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolutions offered by Mr. Warley, made the following 
report : 

" The Executive Committee, to whom was referred the resolu- 
tions of Mr. Warley in regard to the administration of justice, etc., 
beg leave to report that they have considered the same, and recom- 
mend that the resolutions do pass. 

Respectfully submitted, 

James Chesnut, Chairman." 

On motion of Mr. Chesnut, the report was considered immediate- 
ly as a whole and adopted. 

A call of counties was had under the rule. 

Mr. Aldrich offered the following resolution, which was referred 
to the Executive Committee under the rule : 

Bcsolvcd, That the Executive Committee, with the President, 
shall have it in charge to protect the interest represented by this 
Convention in the interval of adjournment, to keep in view the 
current legislation of the Legislature, and to call the Convention 
together at such time as they may deem expedient. 

Also the following resolution, which was referred to the Execu- 
tive Committee under the rule : 

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the Execu- 
tive Committee to prepare a truthful and condensed report of the 
condition of the State now and since the war, and that the same be 
printed and distributed. 

Mr. T. Y. Simons, from Charleston, offered the following resolu- 
tion which was referred to the Executive Committee under the 

rule : 

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to confer with 
the Governor, in relation to the postponement of the collection of 
taxes, to be raised in November ensuing, and report upon the same 
to this Convention. 



45 

Mr. Will. Wallace, of Richland, offered the following preamble 
And resolutions, which were referred to the Executive Committee 
under the rule : 

Whereas, Crimes hitherto unknown in South Carolina, viz : em- 
bezzlement of public funds, and bribery in the Legislature, have 
become so flagrant as to make the Government of the State a by- 
word and reproach in the eyes of the civilized world, committed as 
they have been almost openly in the presence of the Executive of 
the State and of the Attorney General, whose duty it is to see that 
all offenders are brought to punishment. And whereas, these vio- 
lations of law on the part of those occupying high places in the 
Government, committed almost openly and with impunity, beget a 
spirit of lawlessness throughout the State ; 

Besolved, That the Attorney General be instructed to ferret out 
and prosecute all such offenders, and that a committee of five, mem- 
bers of this Convention, be appointed by the chair, to aid that offi- 
cer in the discharge of his duty. 

Mr. A. B. Woodruff, of Spartanburg County, introduced the fol- 
lowing resolution, which was under the rule referred to the Execu- 
tive Committee : 

Besolved, That it be referred to the Committee of Eleven, to re- 
port on the propriety of proposing some plan, through the Gover- 
nor, or otherwise, by which the law requiring all official notices to 
be published in certain papers, be repealed, or so modified as to re- 
move said requisition. 

Mr. H. C. Smart, from Beaufort, offered the following preamble 
and resolutions, which were under the rule referred to the Execu- 
tive Committee : 

Whereas, Recognizing our obligation as delegates of the people 
of this State in voluntary Convention assembled, to adopt such 
measures as in our judgment be most conducive to social harmony, 
mutual co-operation in, and support of the g(jvernment, and confi- 
dence in the financial condition of the State. 



46 

Receiving and accepting in good faith the assurances of his Ex- 
cellency that he "will render any aid in his power to facilitate such 
object," and that " any plan which this Convention may adopt con- 
sistent with our system of free government will deserve the earliest 
attention and support of the General Assembly." 

Appreciating his suggestion as to the proper and most effective 
remedy for the existing evils, to wit: "to secure for the State the 
services of citizens whose experience and personal character would 
furnish a sufficient guarantee for wise legislation and judicious ex- 
penditure of the public funds;" be it, therefore, 

Resolved, 1. That the Executive Committee of this Convention be 

and they are hereby requested to nominate a committee to consist 

of not less than three nor more than ten competent persons, who 

shall make and cause to be made a thorough investigation of all the 

^"liabilites of the State. 

2. That his Excellency the Governor be and he is hereby request- 
ed to render any aid in his power to the accomplishment of this 
object. And as an important agency exists in the city of New 
York, a visit to which would entail much expense on the members 
of this committee, this aid be extended to embrace transportation of 
the committee. 

3. The officers of the various departments be and are hereby re- 
quested to give to the committee access to all sources of information 
Avithin their power. 

4. That the Executive Committee be continuous in its organization, 
subject to the call of his Excellency and its Chairman. 

5. In addition to the duties hereinbefore provided for, the mem- 
bers of this committee (the Executive Committee) shall by confer- 
ence and communication with his Excellency the Governor, when- 
ever by him desired, assist him to secure the services of citizens, to 
fill the various offices of State and County, whose experience and 
personal character will i\irnish a guarantee for wise administration, 
and thereby secure the popular confidence of the tax-payers and 
other good citizens. 

6. That we are opposed to repudiation of any past debt, and 
hope that the result of the arrangements herein provided will be 



47 

to secure the prompt payment of all lawful and just obligations ; 
provided, however, that we distinctly reserve the right to further 
action on this point until after the reports herein contemplated are 
made. 

Mr. B. H. Wilson, from Georgetown, introduced the following 
resolution which was referred to the Executive Committee : 

Resolved, That it be referred to the Executive Committee to re- 
port some plan by which the necessary expenses of this Convention 
shall be provided for. 

Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, asked leave for that 
■committee to sit during the regular session of the Convention. 

Leave was granted. 

Mr. Wilson moved to take a recess until 4 P. M. 

Mr. William Wallace moved as an amendment that the Conven- 
tion take a recess until 7 P. M. 

The amendment was agreed to, and the Convention took a re- 
cess until 7 P. M. 



48 



EVENING SESSION 



The Convention re-assembled at 7 P. M., the President, Hon. 
\V. D. Porter, in the chair. 

The President announced the Convention ready to proceed to 
business. 

Mr. Warley, of Darlington, introduced the following resolution, 
which was referred to the Executive Committee under the rule : 

Resolved, That this Convention, representing the tax-payers of 
the State of South Carolina and authorized to speak for them, sol- 
emnly declare the intention of the people to resist by all lawful 
means the payment of any debt hereafter contracted by the j>res- 
ent State Government, or by any subsequent Government in which 
the property-holders of the State are not represented. 

Mr. T. Y. Simons, of Charleston, introduced the following reso- 
lutions, which were referred to the Executive Committee under the 
rule : 

Hesolved, That this Convention of the property-holders and tax- 
payers of the State of South Carolina, do hereby deem it our duty 
to declare that the so-called sterling loan, or any other bonds or 
obligations hereafter issued, purporting to be under and by virtue 
of the authority of this State, as at present constituted, will not be 
held binding on us, and that we recommend to the people of the 
State in every manner, and at all times, to resist the payment thereof 
or the enforcement of any tax to pay the same, by all legitimate 
means within their [lower. 



49 

Bcsolvcd, That we deem it our duty to warn all persons not to 
receive, by way of purchase, loan or otherwise, any bond or obli- 
gation hereafter issued, purporting to bind the property or pledge 
the credit of the State, and that all such bonds and obligations will 
be held to be null and void, as having been issued corruptly, im- 
providently and for fraudulent purposes, and in dei'ogation of the 
rights of that portion of the people of this State, upon whom the 
public burdens are made to rest. 

Hesolvcd, That a committee of five be appointed to investigate 
and report a plan to restore the credit of the State, and to confer 
with the representatives of the "fire loan securities" of the State, 
which have been practically repudiated by the State authorities, 
with a view to repair the damage to the good faith and honor of 
the State, by influencing an early liquidation of these obligations. 

Mr. Adams, from Richland, introduced the following resolutions, 
which were referred to the Executive Committee under the rule : 

Whereas, Taxation without adequate representation is an anom- 
aly in a true Republican Grovernment ; and, whereas, the tax-pay- 
ers of the State of South Carolina are now laboring under the in- 
tolerable burdens arising from non-representation in the legisla- 
tive councils of the State : be it, therefore. 

Resolved, By the delegates of the tax-payers of South Carolina, 
in Convention assembled, that they recommend to his Excellency 
the Governor a suspension of the collection of taxes for the year 
1871, until the adjournment of the next session of the Legislature. 

2. That it is the sense of this Convention that the necessities of 
tlie tax-payers of the State of South Carolina imperatively require 
such suspension. 

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. 

Mr. J. p. Thomas, of Richland, from the Committee on Election 
and Suffrage Laws, to whom was referred the question of the ex- 
pediency of cumulative voting, or such system as Avill protect the 
rights of minorities, made the following 

4 



50 



REPORT. 



The committee to whom was referred the question of the expe- 
diency of the cumidative system of voting, or such system as will 
protect the rights of minorities, ask leave to make the following 
report : 

The means of protecting the rights of minorities, in representa- 
tive forms of Government, has for a long period engaged the at- 
tention of thoughtful minds. In Europe, as well as in this coun- 
try, this question has been fully discussed, and a satisfactory 
solution anxiously sought. So defective is the system of mere ma- 
jority rule^ — so flagrant are the abuses to which it is liable, that the 
necessity for its modification strikes with force every impartial ob- 
server. It is obvious that the needs of good government re(|uire 
that some effective organism be devised for the protection of minor- 
ities. Your committee deem it unnecessary to enter upon an an- 
alysis of the several schemes of proportional representation that 
have been suggested. Enough to say that, in our judgment, the plan 
of cumulative voting best accomplishes the end in view — best makes 
representation co-extensive with the whole body of electors. This' 
plan obtains wherever there is more than one officer to be elected. 
It gives the elector as many votes as there are persons to be chosen, 
and allows him to bestow his votes upon the whole number, or to 
cumulate them upon any number less than the whole. The effect 
of this system is to give to each political interest in a community a 
representation proportionate to its numerical strength. Under its 
operation the true office of suffrage, which is to collect the sense of 
the whole community, will be subserved. There is effected neither 
exclusive representation of the majority, nor exclusive representa- 
tion of the minority ; but proportional representation. The proj^- 
osition is that the cumulative system secures thorough and general 
representation of all the interests in the political body. To illus- 
trate the system : Under the present electoral system of the State, 
in a community of 200 voters, 101 elect representatives — say four 
— for the entire body. That is, out of 200 voters, 101 impose their 
representatives upon the 99. • The 99 have no representatives — 



51 

are virtually disfranchised. Now, under the operation of the cu- 
mulative system of voting, assuming that, in the same community, 
the 200 are equally divided politically, the representation would be 
equally divided. It may be mathematically stated thus : 1,000 vo- 
ters : 500 voters :: 2:1. Under the operation of such a system, each 
party would of necessity calculate its strength in advance, and seek 
to elect only the number proportionate to its niamerical strength. 
For instance, in a certain community let us assume that there are 
5,000 Democrats and 9,000 Republican voters, and that there are 
three persons to be elected. The 5,000 Democrats have 15,000 
votes. The 9,000 Republicans have 27,000 votes. If the Demo- 
crats were to attempt to elect all three representatives, they could 
give each only 5,000 votes, which would result in their securing no 
representative, as the Republicans, being able to give each of their 
candidates 9,000 votes, would elect them all. On the other hand, 
if the Republicans were to attempt to elect all their representa- 
tives, they could give each only 9,000 votes, which would result in 
the defeat of one, as the Democrats could cumulate their 15,000 
upon one candidate, and thus elect him. The effect would be that 
each party would, of necessity, cumulate its strength, and there 
would result a proportional representation. In the case stated, the 
5,000 Democrats would secure one representative, and the 9,000 
Republicans two representatives. This is the principle of propor- 
tional representation by means of the cumulative system. 

Your committee, desiring to confine themselves to general propo- 
sitions, propose to refrain from entering further into details. 

Your commitee are gratified to state' that this system of cumula- 
tive voting, which is destined to play so important a part in the 
development of popular rule, has already been put in operation. — 
" Proposed, explained and advocated in the first instance by James 
Garth Marshall, a subject of the crown of Great Britain," this plan 
has been championed by ex-Senator Buckalew, of this country, has 
been incorporated in the revised Constitution of Illinois, and has 
been put upon its trial in a Pennsylvania town. Recently the sub- 
ject has attracted unusual interest in the South. In our own State 
it has been received with great favor, ami lifted above the plane of 
political partyism. 



52 

Your committee are of the opinion that, abstractly considered, 
proportional representation is a great governmental principle — a 
wise, just measure of reform, and one absolutely necessary to make 
unlimited suffrage consistent with peace, order and security. It en- 
ters the political body as a saving, a conserving element. It comes 
to leaven the lump of Democracy, and to give the essence of genu- 
ine Republicanism, which is, briefly stated, thorough and general 
representation. But if proportional representation be an admirable 
system in any government founded upon the poi^ular will, your 
committee hold that the plan is peculiarly applicable to such a con- 
dition of society as this State now presents. 

Your committee do not affirm that this would cure all the dis- 
eases of the body politic ; but they may, without extravagance, 
suggest that the system of proportional representation, if adopted by 
those who wield the numerical j:)0wer, would alleviate many of the 
evils incident to our present abnormal condition ; would, to a large 
extent, tranquilize public apprehensions ; would moderate the spirit 
of political convulsion, and tend to bring about in this State all the 
peace that we can reasonably hope to attain. 

Your committee are aware of the fact that this measure of elect- 
oral reform, if it shall be promptly realized by us, must come from 
the dominant party of -the State. Whether it will come or not, we 
cannot decide. In either event, the minority in South Carolina 
put forth their claims in this behalf. It is their right. Should it 
be denied, the responsibility must rest upon those who use thus the 
power that the present gives. Should it be tendered, it will doubt- 
less produce the fruits of justice and widen the circle of peace. — 
This much we may add : Since it is the nature of majorities to 
change, it may be well for the dominant party to consider whether 
the adoption of proportional representation may not for them be 
the best policy for the future, as well as the highest wisdom for the 
present. 

Respectfully submitted, 

J. P. THOMAS, for Committee. 



Mr. Tliomas spoke as follows in support of the report of the 
Committee : 

The principle of electoral reform embraced in the said report, 
was not a new one. In Europe, as well as in portions of this coun- 
try, the subject had been discussed, and the principle to some ex- 
tent applied. The system provided for a just and thorough repre- 
sentation both of political i')arties and of industrial interests, and as 
such it was applicable to the condition of affairs in South Carolina. 
We are here to consider the remedies available for the local mis- 
rule, abuses and extravagances which called this Convention into 
existence. 

The sjjecial remedies called for, he did not propose to consider. 
It was the general remedy that the committee sought to sug- 
gest. This general remedial or palliative agent Avas proportional 
representation by means of the system of cumulative voting. It 
would be admitted that we had in South Carolina a difficult cjues- 
tion to meet. We have, living on terms of political equality, two 
races, with strong lines of difference separating them. Whilst, per- 
haps, no political millenium was to be realized, yet under the 
influence of a proper governmental system, it was possible for the 
white and black races to live together in a condition of reasonable 
peace and prosperity. This was to be consummated by each ac- 
knowledging the just claims of the other, and by both planting 
themselves upon the basis of justice, good will and right. 

Certain it was that mere majority rule had proved disastrous iu 
South Carolina. It had brought the State to the verge of bank- 
ruptcy, anarchy and ruin. It was conceded by the dominant party 
that reform was demanded for the common good. Even the archi- 
tects of the temple of reconstruction in South Carolina were dis- 
posed to admit that the woi'k was faulty, and liable to fall about our 
ears. If we are to get relief and to give increased stability to our 
political structure, we must adopt the policy indicated in the re- 
port. We must engraft upon our system of suffrage the principle 
of proportional representation. The report is now submitted to the 
judgment of the Convention. 

Mr. J. L. Manning, from Clarendon, moved that the report and 
resolutions be laid upon the table for the present. 

Mr. Trenholm, of Charleston, asked that the motion be with- 
drawn, in order to enable him to make a few remarks. 

The motion was withdrawn. 



54 

Ml-. Trc'iiliolm tliL-n sui J : 

SPEECH OF HON. GEORGE A. TRENHOLM. 

. The principle of universal suffrage as a means of universal rep- 
resentation, commends itself to the approval of right minded men 
in all countries. Statesmen oppose themselves to it in vain. It 
lies at the very foundation of every true Republican Government ; 
and merits the support of all good citizens. It is not against uni- 
versal suffrage that we remonstrate ; it is against the imperfect ap- 
plication of it. That mode of practical application prevailing, not 
in South Carolina alone, but in every State in this Union save one ; 
a method by which, instead of universal representation, the entire 
minority, no matter how large that minority may be, is deprived of 
all representation whatsoever. It is against this great defect, this 
monstrous inecjuality, that we remonstrate, and for which we would 
institute a remedy. The one recommended by the committee is not 
new ; it has been extensively discussed both in Europe and in this 
country, and has met with the sanction of many eminent men. In 
England, that great country, from whence we derive many of the 
most valued lessons of political government ; amid an aristocracy 
of birth, wealth and education, the principle of minority represen- 
tation has been recognized and incorporated in the Constitution. 
This was done in 1867 ; and again in 1870 it was re-affirmed upon 
a motion to repeal the act of 18G7. This motion was opposed by 
such statesmen as Bright and Gladstone, and defeated. What was 
the act of 1867, and why did those holding the supremacy in legis- 
lative power make the concession it involved? It gave one repre- 
sentative to the minority in every county entitled to three members 
of Parliament, and it wisely anticipated the time when universal 
suffrage would unsettle the tenure of political power ; when those 
who now ruled the country might themselves be thrown into the 
minority. 

This principle of minority representation is what is recommended 
by the committee, and it comes with the sanction of an authority 
that is of the highest dignity with those on whom the decision of 
this question devolves. If there is any name revered above all 
others by the Republicans, it is that of Mr. Lincoln. And what do 
we perceive in the State from which Mr. Lincoln came ? The Leg- 
islature of Illinois is represented to have been as incompetent as 
ours — representation as imperfect ; and to cure these evils,' the 
same as we are suffering from, they adopted in their election laws 
the very principle recommended by your committee — the principle 
of cumulative voting. By a vote of one hundred thousand major- 



55 

ity, the people resolved to give to the minority that representation 
without which universal suffrage is not universal representation. 

I hope there will be no difference of opinion in the State on this 
question. I have the honor, Mr. President, to share with you the 
privilege of representing in this Convention, the Chamber of Com- 
merce of Charleston ; a body in whom the people of Charleston 
have much confidence ; and I feel myself constrained, if not instruct- 
ed by their known sentiments, to conduct myself with moderation 
in these discussions. I have always been persuaded of the wisdom, 
and even the necessity of great calmness in reviewing the results of 
the late war. Looking at the other side of tlie question, I saw that 
the Republican party of the North ; which had been the war party ; 
■which had carried the country triumphantly through the war that 
threatened the Union — was destined to become the national party, 
and for some time to hold the reigns of Federal power. They held 
that power when the war closed ; it was not in human nature to 
surrender it. And to have left the election laws as they stood be- 
fore the war, and at the same time to have restored the Souihern 
States to the Union, would have been practically a voluntary sur- 
render of all their political power. Every vote in the South would 
have been cast for the Democratic party, and their success been 
made certain. The only salvation of the Republican party, was the 
■establishment of universal suffrage at the South. It was a political 
necessity with them. We could not have expected anything else. 
What has been done, we do not desire to undo ; all that we ask is 
to have the recognized and admitted defects of universal suffrage, 
in its practical application, redressed. The people of the South 
stood up manfully during the war, in the defence of their princi- 
ples. They believed slavery to be an institution founded by the 
Author of all good, for wise and gracious purposes ; the pious and 
good entertained that belief ; and feeling their high responsibility, 
struggled against the sentiment of the world. And, sir, when that 
same Providence in an unexpected hour, and in an unexpected 
manner, relieved us from this great charge, the people of this State 
acquiesced in its deci-ee. No man believes that the restoration of 
slavery in this country is possible or desirable. If such a possibility 
did exist, and it were ever submitted to the vote of this Convention, 
my conviction is that not a voice would be raised in its favor. — 
Having then relinquished much, for which so many of our people 
suffered and bled and died, may we not call upon our fellow citi- 
zens in the other States to sustain us in this necessary measure of 
protection ? I believe, sir, that they will applaud and support this 
measure. I do not distrust the people of the North ; I have confi- 
dence in their sense of justice. I do not despair of our own coun- 



56 

try ; we shall rise superior to our present difficulties. Let us neith- 
er abandon the Constitution under which we live, nor the soil we 
cultivate, but strive to redress the defects of the first, and to de- 
velop the rich resources of the last. 

Mr. Jno. L. Manning renewed his motion to lay the report and 
resolutions upon the table. 

Mr. Gary requested the gentleman from Clarendon to give his 
reasons for making the motion. 

Mr. Manning rose and spoke as follows : 

SPEECH OF EX-GOVERNOR J. L. MANNING. 

I suppose that no man is more illy prepared to discuss this point 
than I am this evening ; but, having strong convictions, I will do 
so. The question seems to me, sir, to consist in this : Whether we, 
by this cumulative voting, shall be confined to one-third the power 
to which we are entitled. I, for one, am willing to bind myself by 
no such obligation. The history of the world shows us that the 
modifying influences of intelligence have their effects. This settle- 
ment of the question by the committee prevents any further discus- 
sion. To think that the people who controlled the Government of 
South Carolina from the time Avhen it first became a colony — to 
think that they are to be confined to this one point, is a thought 
that seems to me is abhorrent to the mind of every enlightened 
man. It is a sort of declaration of weakness to the other element 
to ask them to yield their influence to control one-third of the State. 
The true interest, sir, of the people of South Carolina is to enlighten 
the whole representative mind in the State to enact laws for the 
benefit of the whole people. Whenever you restrict the mind of 
the individual people, you restrict the liberties of the land. It is 
by the homogeneous elements of the whole State only that the State 
can be formed. When you confine the action of a citizen by incor- 
poration or restrict it by other means, you restrict the right of will 
and the right of action. The principles of human liberty are just 
as free, sir, as the air of God's heaven. 

A compromise ! No sir : There is a better voice to appeal to, 
and that is the voice of the world. Give us justice, sir, and equal 
laws, and you will have citizens who will obey the laws. I say for 
one, that of all the law-abiding people of the IJnited States, this has 
been the most. It is the mal-administration of the laws that gives 
us all the trouble. There is no qualification to the sentiments I 
make. I will never compromise my rights as a whole for an inte- 



57 

gral part, let others modify their sentiments as they choose. Give 
us equal laws, and we would have proper representation ; then will 
we have justice throughout the land, and every man may sit down 
under his own vine and fig tree. 

Mr. Gary spoke in reply, as follows ; 

SPEECH OF GENEEAL M. W. GARY. 

Mr. President : 

As the chairman of the committee which prepared and presented 
that report, through Mr. Thomas, one of its members, it may be 
expected that I should give my views. I would ask : Why have 
we gathered together from all parts of the State? Why have 
the wise men of the State met in counsel ? From the fact that 
taxes have been levied by the present Legislature, which, in our 
impoverished condition, we are unable to pay. To say that these 
abuses of the Government have been effected by the Republican or 
Radical party, would be unjust, for it would be a gross misnomer 
to dignify those now in power by any party name. They are known 
by all honest men. North, South, East and West, irrespective of 
party alliances, as thieves and robbers; ibr they are not governed 
by, nor do they regard the principles and policy embodied in the 
platform of the Republican party. We have assembled then to 
take counsel against these abuses of power, to represent the intel- 
ligence and the tax-payers of South Carolina, and to enter a solemn 
protest against the past record of those in power. How can we 
reach the evils ? It is known to all that the Legislature imposes 
the taxes. We must then seek to control the Legislature through 
its members. These are elected every two years by ballot. Then 
the first thing to be done is to petition them to repeal or modify 
the existing election laws, since they were notoriously enacted in 
behalf of fraud. The boxes are kept in the hands of the managers 
of the polls days and nights after the polls Avere closed, giving am- 
ple time to change or to stuff the boxes with fraudulent votes. 

But we have a majority against us of 30,000 votes, and even if 
by a repeal of the present election laws, we could secure a fair 
election, this immense majority still remains. I am as far from 
surrendering my rights as any member of this Convention, nor am 
I willing to throw aside any principle. If we can secure a respect- 
able minority in the Legislative body, do we not gain a stand point 
from which to work ? 

I am not here to discuss abstract theories of government ; we 



5S 

had enough of that in the days of Mr. Calhoun ; but to meet a 
crying evil, to take a practical view of our anomalous condition ; 
and I accept the cumulative system of voting in the same spirit 
that I would receive a half loaf as being better than no bread at 
all. 

In presenting the report I do not think the committee intend to 
commit themselves as being in favor of universal suffrage. I am 
sure I did not. My friend, Mr. Trenholm, seems to have fallen 
into this error. He says : "The principle of universal suffrage is 
one that commends itself to the intelligence of every man ; one that 
the statesmen of all countries have at times opposed in vain." I 
would ask what is Government organized for but the protection of 
the lives, liberties and property of its subjects? The protection of 
property is the third element in every republican form of Govern- 
ment, and if property-holders are taxed without representation, is 
not one of the essential elements for which Government is created, 
violated and disregarded ? 

Mr. President, my friend mistakes, in my judgment, the action 
of the English Parliament, and of the States of Illinois and Penn- 
sylvania, as being evidences in favor of universal suffrage. To my 
mind they appear as indices to a retroactive movement against uni- 
versal suffrage. When he says that " the statesmen of all countries 
have at times opposed, in vain, universal sutFrage," I agree with 
him. Such is the fact ; but when he tells me " the principle com- 
mends itself to the intelligence of every man," I again differ with 
him in toto. I have always regarded the cry for universal suftrage 
as that of the demagogue who is willing "to build his greatness 
upon his country's ruin." It is the watchword of the mere politi- 
cian who has not patriotism and honesty enough to elevate him 
above a party platform. Those who have reached and aspire to a 
level above that of any party, their country's good, will have their 
names inscribed against this monstrous political fallacy. I do not 
believe that any one who has studied and become imbued with the 
philosophy of true Government, could ever lay his hand upon his 
heart and advocate universal suffrage. It is the subterfuge of the 
politician who caters to ignorant masses, for personal aggrandize- 
ment. 

I did not propose to refer to National politics in this Conven- 
tion, and I regret that any allusion should have been made to 
them, directly or indirectly. Nor did I intend to bring in I'eview 
the principles of the recent revolution, for I am, for one, willing to 
let by-gones be by-gones. I am content to live without office and 
honors, for the principles for which our gallant living and heroic 
dead fought, Constitutional^ Liberty. I do not think it becomes us 



59 

to-day to refer to the past, but I must take tliis occasion to say that, 
in my judgment, the people of the North do not understand and 
appreciate the present sentiment of the best people of the South. 
Our prejudices against them are fast dying out, since slavery and 
secession, which were the irritating causes, are now dead issues. — 
The President and his administration, as well as Congress, labor 
under a grievous mistake in supposing that we are opposed to the 
present Government simply because it is under the control of Ead- 
icals, or Republicans. 

It is not the fact. We are opposed to it, because it does not 
faithfully administer the laws, and from the fact that we are plun- 
dered under the forms of law. 

Our people are an agricultural people, and do not mix a great 
deal in politics. Two-thirds of them scarcely know the difference 
between the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties. 
But when their taxes are doubled in twelve months ; when, from 
the low price of cotton, they are not remunerated for their labor, 
and are unable to pay their excessive taxes ; and when they see, 
under the present form of the tax law, the sale of their lands by its 
terms and provisions, is eqivalent to confiscation, are you surprised 
to hear the complaint of brave men, driven to despair, from the sea- 
board to the mountains ? When they turn their eyes to the General 
Government for its protecting £egis, they are met by the assurance 
in high places : You are plotting treason, and do not deserve our 
sympathy or protection. When we look to our State Government, 
we are simply endeavoring to make terms with ignorant and uned- 
ucated thieves and robbers. 

We have assembled then to give warning to the world that we 
will not be bound by the future acts of those who now misrule us. 
I do not know that any good will come from these resolutions. We 
presented them simply to respond to the suggestions of the Attor- 
ney General, as set forth in his recent letter, and also to the senti- 
ments which we understand have been expressed by the Governor. 
If they are honest in their assertions, these resolutions may become 
the opening of a better and happier future for us. 

I regret that I have been betrayed into the discussion of these 
resolutions. They were hastily prepared. And I regret that a 
want of preparation on my part may have done injustice to the 
importance of the subject. 

I have simply attempted to give you a few of the practical views 
that influenced the committee in rei^orting them. 

Mr. Cannon moved to refer the resolutions to the Executive 
Committee, and spoke as follows : 



60 



SPEECH OF HON. G. CANNON. 

I fear we have misunderstood the reasons for which we have as- 
sembled. We do not come here in opposition to any government, 
United States or State. We do not oppose any party. I acknow- 
ledge the reconstruction acts, and, for one, intend to obey them, as 
the law of the land. Let us look about and try to discover if there 
be evils. We are here to see if fraud does exist. I am glad to see 
that the assistance of State officials is tendered us. I hope that the 
account of this Convention will correct many false impressions that 
have gone abroad throughout the State. I regret that there should 
be violence in any joortion of the State, and I hope that the mem- 
bers will use all their influence to preserve the public peace. More 
time is needed to examine into this system of cumulative voting. 
I, therefore, move that the resolutions be referred to the Executive 
Committee. 

Mr. Warley moved to lay the motion of Mr. Cannon on the table, 
and spoke as follows : 

J//. President : 

I have listened, with much pleasure, to the interesting and able 
report of the committee, and to the remarks of the gentleman 
from Richland (Mr. Thomas), in support of it. I have, also, lis- 
tened attentively to the remarks of other gentlemen ; but, I submit, 
if the discussion is to take the range indicated, the sooner we vote 
upon the main cj^uestion the better. 

Mr. Chesnut called for the reading of the report again. 
The report was read. 

The Chair ruled that it was not parliamentary to refer the report 
of one Standing Committee to another Standing Committee. 
The motion of Mr. Cannon was withdrawn. 
Mr. Chamberlain .spoke on the report and resolutions as follows : 

Gentlemen : 

I am aware, from the length of this debate, that the Convention 
are anxious to reach a vote on the subject. While I had hoped to 
have spoken upon it at some length, I shall better promote the 
object which I have at heart by confining myself to a few remarks. 



61 

We are here, if we are honest in our declarations, simply as citizens 
of a common State, and not as members of political parties. We 
are interested alike in the welfare of that State. My position here 
is peculiar, and, in many of its features, trying. On all sides I am 
surrounded by members of a political party to which I do not be- 
long, and in coming here I have left behind me those with whom I 
have hitherto been associated in my political career. 

But, anxious as I am to save the common peace and welfare of 
the State, I say to those who taunt me for my conduct, that neither 
they nor any piie else can read me out of my political partv, with 
which I hav^ chosen to associate myself. Pardon me for sayino- 
again, however, that, outside of this Convention, I am a Republi- 
can, and it is because I desire to vindicate the decency of Republi- 
canism that I am willing to hazard all political prospects in an 
honest eftbrt to promote the cause of right, and to save the 
State. 

In the first place, gentlemen, it is necessary to modify the abso- 
lute control which a mere numerical majority has obtained over 
the State, and to secure for intelligence and property a proper rep- 
resentation in the affairs of the government. And, looking about 
for some device which, without violence to the fundamental princi- 
ple upon which our government rests, will bring relief from the 
grievances which afflict our people, I have fixed upon this system 
of cumulative voting, because it is not only just in its theory, but 
it will prove itself right in its results. It takes nothing from the 
rights of the majority. It gives them a predominating control, but 
not an absolute disposition of the entire fortunes of the State. Do 
you believe for a moment, then, when you put into an ignorant As- 
sembly, many of whom can neither read nor write, forty-seven 
gentlemen, whom I might selact in this body, that yoii would not 
shame them into decency, or frighten them from crime? [Ap- 
plause.] Who does not know that the presence of one honest man 
puts to flight a band of robbers? Now, according to this system, 
you deny nothing which belongs to the majority, but, from the 
moment you place in the lower house forty-seven of your ablest 
citizens, bad legislation will cease, and good legislation will begin. 
Are the opponents of this measure on this floor so intense in their 
devotion to political ideas that they will refuse a projiosition which 
gives to them a representation of one-third, and a corresponding 
influence in public affairs? I hope not; for when, by force of 
political success, they have gathered a majority of the State to their 
side, there will then be left to us who differ the same rights we are 
now according to them. Is it not fair, just, right? Its immediate 
results are relief from present grievances, and it points to the fu- 



62 

tare, where all interests, no matter what may be the political 
fortunes of the State, will be protected. 

Now, I say to you, gentlemen, give us who have to do with 
making this practicable, something that we can honestly take back 
to our political associates, and, in the name of the property and in- 
telligence of the State, secure this right. Let there be peace 
between us now, and prosperity hereafter. Strengthen our hands, 
who desire to do what in us lies, to make South Carolina safe for 
every man in his life, career and private interests. I say again, it 
is right. Grant it. 

Mr. A. M. Lowry, from Chesterfield, renewed the motion to lay 
the report and resolutions upon the table. 

The motion was lost. 

The question then recurred on the adoption of the report and 
resolutions, which was decided in the affirmative. 

Mr. Lowry called for the yeas and noes. 

The call was not sustained. 

Mr. Chesnut, trom the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolution of Mr. Chamberlain relative to prevailing vio- 
lences, made the following 

REPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to whom was referred the resolution 
of Mr. D. H. Chamberlain, of Kichland County, directing the said 
committee " to inquire into the alleged violence now prevailing in 
the several counties of the State, and to report upon a plan for the 
execution of the laws against such violence and the better protec- 
tion of all our citizens in their lives and property throughout the 
State," ask leave to report : 

They have considered the subject with the deliberation its im- 
portance demands. They have learned with regret that violence 
has prevailed, to a greater or lesser extent, in several counties. 
But they feel bound to say with much satisfac:tion, that in by far 
the larger number of the counties of the State, not a single instance 
of such violence has been brought to their attention. 

Bad government, corruption in high places, set the example of 



68 

moral decadence and disregard of law, wliicli is often readily fol- 
lowed by those upon whom the laws are intended to operate. 

Your committee are constrained to believe that larcenies and in- 
cendiarism practised by ignorant, deluded and bad men, suggested' 
in many instances and encouraged by a class much worse and more 
responsible, were among the initial causes of the first cases of vio- 
lence. Afterwards, it appears, there followed instances of corpo- 
real punishments and homicides, perpetrated by unknown persons 
upon citizens, and even upon a few officials of the Government, 
Avho seemed to have become obnoxious to many in the communities 
wherein they lived, on account of supposed injustice, fraud and op- 
pression. These are all lamentable truths, which the committee 
feel called on unequivocally to deplore and condemn. 

Your committee believe that an effectual remedy for these evils 
will be found in good government — the removal of all dishonest, 
incompetent, and bad men from office ; and the appointment thereto 
of men (no matter of what party), who are honest and competent 
and who feel the obligations which official station should impose, 
and who will promptly' and faithfully execute the laws. 

James Chesnut, 
Chairman Executive Committee. 

The report was made the special order for to-morrow, at 12 M. 
Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, made the following 

KEPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to which was referred a resolution to 
appoint a committee of five to confer with the Governor, as to the- 
postponement of the collection of taxes, beg leave to report : 

That they have considered the same, and recommend that the- 
resolution do pass. 

Respectfully submitted, 

James Chesnut, Chairman. 

Also, the following 



64 



REPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to which was referred a resolution,, to 
repoi't a plan to provide for the necessary expenses of this Conven- 
tion, beg leave to report : 

'That they have considered the same, and recommend, that each 
Delegate deposit with the Secretary the sum of five dollars for that 
purpose. ■"- .. 

EespectfuUy submitted, 

James Chesnut, Chairman. 

The reports were made the special orcier for to-morrow, at 12 M. 
Mr. Smart, from the Executive Committee, made the following 

REPORT : 

Your committee, to whom was referred the resolutions, providing 
that the Executive Committee, with the President of this Conven- 
tion, shall have it in charge to protect the interest represented by 
this Convention during the interval of adjournment, to keep in 
view the current legislation, and to call the Convention together at 
such time as they think proper, beg leave to report : 

That they have had the same under consideration, and recom- 
mend its adoption. Respectfully submitted, 

H. C. Smart, 
For the Executive Committee. 

Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, made the following 

REPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to which was referred the paper pre. 
sented by Hon. C. W. Dudley, of Marlboro, beg leave respectfully 
to report : 

That the paper has received the careful consideration of the com- 



65 

mittee ; that it has been amended, and in its amended form is now 
reported to the Convention, with the recommendation that it do 
pass. Respectfully submitted, 

James Chesnut, Chairman. 

The delegates to the Tax-payers' Convention, now met and sit- 
ting in Columbia, S. C, desiring to be fully understood by their 
fellow citizens of this State and of the United States, declare : 

1. That they meditate no resistance whatever to the Government 
of the United States, and intend, in respect thereof, to conduct 
themselves as peaceful and law-abiding citizens. 

2. That we regard the reconstruction measures as finalities, 
and recognize them as a portion of the established laws of the 
land. 

3. That we look to time and peaceful agencies only for the solu- 
tion of any difficulties that now, or may hereafter, exist in the ad- 
ministration of the public affairs of this State ; and we entertain 
the hope that all the changes and modifications that may be desired 
in that connection will be eft'ected by the quiet influence of an en- 
lightened public opinion. 

4. That the exigencies of the times demand from the people other 
efforts than those intended to promote the success of any "party;" 
their true interests consisting in uniting with good citizens of any 
and all parties in advancing the welfare of every section of the 
State, and all classes of the peo2:)le. 

5. That certain measures of reform are essential to the peace 
and prosperity of the State. That prominent among these are : 

I. The adoption by the Legislature of some method of voting 
which will secure a representation therein of a minority of the 
voters. 

II. Retrenchment in the expenses of the State Government, by 
abolishing every office that could be dispensed with, reducing the 
salaries of public officers, and requiring strict economy in the ad- 
administration of the several departments of the Government. 

III. That the public debt shall not be increased ; and that His 
Excellency the Governor be requested to prevent, if possible, the 



66 

issue and negotiation of the bonds authorized by an act of the 
Legislature " to create a debt of the State of South Carolina to be 
known as the Sterling Funded Debt," &c. 

IV. To be relieved from paying two annual taxes in one year, as 
is now most oppressively provided by law. 

V. To have the various offices in the State filled by competent 
and trustworthy incumbents, so as to secure the prompt and effi- 
cient execution of the laws, instead of the mode now adojDted of 
selecting them from the dominant party, without regard to their 
qualifications. 

VI. Such an amendment of the law in regard to elections by the 
people, as will protect them from fraud either in the control or 
counting of the ballots. 

VII. That the pay and mileage of members of the Legislature 
be reduced to the limits prevailing previous to the adoption of the 
present Constitution, and the duration of the sessions of that body 
be made to conform to the absolute necessities for legislation. 

Believing that the principles above professed really actuate the 
great majority of the people, it is the purpose of this Convention 
to attain the ends above indicated, and such other kindred meas- 
ures as may appear necessary hereafter, by such peaceful and legit- 
imate means as comport with the duty of good citizenship, and not 
otherwise. 

The report was made the special order for to-morrow at 12 M. 
Mr. Aldrich, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolution of Mr. Aldrich, made the following 

REPORT : 

Taxation and Representation. 

The Executive Committee, to whom was referred the grievance 
of taxation without representation in the taxing body, and to sug- 
gest a remedy for the existing evil, beg leave to report, that the pre- 
sent political and financial condition of South Carolina is a forcible 
and melancholy illustration of the evils resulting from taxation 



67 

without rejDresentation. The judicial investigations h\tely had in the 
United States Court for this District, prove beyond controversy 
that astounding frauds were practised in the late election, and de- 
monstrate the necessity of a remedy. The theory of the Constitu- 
tion is, that the people shall be fully and fairly represented, and 
provision is made in that intruraent to protect minorities. Thus, in 
the House of Kepresentatives, the whole body of the people is rep- 
resented, and the majority rules. In the Senate, the States are 
represented, and the smallest State has an equal vote with the 
largest State. The one is intended to be a check on the other. — 
While the war lasted, passion took the place of reason, the States 
represented in the Senate set aside the Constitution, forgot their 
sovereignty, and blindly followed the lead of conquest. Since the 
war, the States that struggled for what they suj^posed was a consti- 
tutional right, have not been represented, their Senators have not 
been natives, or, if natives, not representative men, so that the check 
of the States, as represented in the Senate, has been entirely lost, 
and, of course, all legislation has been partisan, sectional and vin- 
■dictive. 

The same feature which characterized the congressional legisla- 
tion was incorporated into our State government. The pai'ish sys- 
tem which existed in our State Constitution before the war, operat- 
ed as a check upon the legislation of the majority. The new Con- 
stitutions of '65 and '68 abolished that conservative element. Un- 
der the Constitution of '65 it is possible no evil would have result- 
ed, because intelligence and property were equally represented ; 
and all the voters belonged to the same caste. Under the Constitu- 
tion of '68, however, a new element was brought into the voting 
power — men of a different race and caste, uneducated slaves, just 
emancipated, an impressible people, whose passions and prejudices 
could be easily excited, were suddenly clothed with the elective 
franchise, and made not only a power, but the controlling power in 
the State. 

Considering our condition then, the result was inevitable. The 
newly enfranchised were not only jealous of their acquired liberty, 
but suspicious of the feeling and intentions of their late owners. 
They were ignorant of political affairs, totally uninstructed in the 



68 

science of government, and naturally turned to the men who had 
flocked hei'e as birds of prey. It was equally natural for the na- 
tive, respectable and intelligent white people, who had heretofore 
controlled affairs, to feel a supreme disgust, and to hold theniselves 
aloof from this mass of ignorance and vice. 

It must also be remembered* that all the gentlemen in the State, 
of experience, patriotism and virtue, were laboring under the polit- 
ical disabilities of the reconsti'uction acts, which prevented them 
from taking part in legislative proceedings. But time and its heal- 
ing influences have shown to the colored people that the white peo- 
ple have no disposition to deprive them of any of their rights,. 
civil or political, that have been conferred on them. It has proved 
to the white people that the colored citizens generally feel no en- 
mity against them ; are not disposed to oppress them, and are will- 
ing, if not anxious, to avail themselves of their learning, expe- 
rience, virtue and patriotism. It has also proved to the adventurers, 
white and colored, that the eyes of the native colored people are- 
open to their selfishness and rapacity. Having arrived at this con- 
clusion, the question is, how can we avail ourselves of the power of 
this native element and get rid of the bad influence which has 
heretofore controlled it, using the colored people as mere voting 
chattels to plunder and ruin this devoted State. They need and 
desire the virtue, intelligence and experience of the native white 
people. The white people cannot maintain the ancient virtue, dig- 
nity and honor of this old State, unless the native colored people 
will co-operate with them. The corruption of the State Govern- 
ment is notorious ; bribes are openly offered to and received by 
Senators and Representatives ; high officials are engaged in specu- 
lating in stocks and bonds of the State. All these great crimes are 
being perpetrated freely here, in the Capital, and there has not been 
the first prosecution commenced to prevent them. In a word, the- 
ancient honor of the proud old State is lost and gone. Every white 
man and every colored man who is a iiative South Carolinian, must 
deplore this disgraceful and humiliating condition. 

Your committee believe that the public mind is ripe to correct 
this evil and cure this disgrace, they therefore propose the following 
resolution : 



69 

Resolved, That we recommend to the Legislature the passage of 
an election law, by which the 60,000 tax-paying voters will have a 
proportionate representation in the Legislature of the State, with 
the 90,000 voters who pay no taxes ; a proposition so just, reasona- 
ble and conscientious, cannot fail to recommend itself favorably to 
•every right-minded citizen. 

The report was made the special order for to-morrow at 12 M. 
The Convention then adjourned till to-morrow at 12 M. 



THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 



Thuesday, May 11, 1871. 



Pursuant to adjournment the Convention met at 12 M., the 
President, Hon. W. D. Porter, in the chair. 

The President announced the Convention ready to proceed to bu- 
siness. 

The Secretary read the journal of yesterday's proc'eedings, which 
on motion, was confirmed. 

SPECIAL ORDERS. 

The Convention proceeded to the consideration of the special or- 
der for to-day at 12 M. 

Report of the Executive Committee on resolution relative to ex- 
penses of the Convention. 

The report was adopted. 

The Convention proceeded to the consideration of the second 
special order. 

Report of the Executive Committee on resolutions of Mr. Dudley 
on the objects of the Convention. 

The report was adopted and the resolutions as amended agreed 
to. 

On motion of Mr. Butler, from Edgefield, the further considera- 
tion of special orders was suspended. 



72 

Ml'. Butler asked and obtained unanimous leave for tlie Commit- 
tee of Eleven to sit during the sessions of the Convention. 
The Convention resumed the consideration of special orders. 
The third special order was taken up for consideration. 

Report of the Executive Committee on the resolution of Mr. 
Chamberlain, regarding violences in certain counties of the State. 

The report of the committee was adopted. 

The Convention proceeded to the consideration of the fourth 
special order. 

Report of the Executive Committee on resolutions giving power 
to the Executive Committee to re-assemble the Convention. 

The report was adopted. 

The Convention proceeded to the consideration of the fifth special 
order. - , 

Report of the Executive Committee on the resolution of Mr. Sim- 
ons to appoint a committee of five to wait on his Excellency the 
Governor to vs'ecure a postponement of the November tax. 

The report was adopted and the resolution agreed to. 

The Convention proceeded to the consideration of the sixth spe- 
cial order. 

Report of the Executive Committee on the resolution of Mr. 
Aldrich, relative to taxation without adequate representation. 
The report was adopted. 

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 

Mr. ChcKiiut, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolutions of Messrs. Smart and Chamberlain, made the 
following 

REPORT. 

The Executive Committee, to whom the resolutions of Mr. Smart 
and Mr. Chamberlain, in relation to the accounts of the State with 
the Financial Agent, &c., were referred, ask leave to report: 



73 

That the subject matter of these resolutions having been referred 
to the Committee of Eleven, the committee ask to be discharged 
from the further consideration of the subject, and that the resolu- 
tions be passed to the said Committee of Eleven. 
Respectfully submitted, 

James Chesnut, Chairman. 

The report was considered immediately, adopted, and the resolu- 
tions referred to the Committee of Eleven. 

Mr. J. H. Screven, from the Committee on Election and Suffrage 
Laws, to whom was referred the resolution, relative to memorializ- 
ing the Legislature on repeal or modification of existing election 
laws, made the following 

REPORT. 

The Committee on Elections and Suffrage Laws, to Avhom was 
referred the resolutions, as to the expediency of memorializing the 
Legislature for the repeal or modification of the existing election 
laws of South Carolina, respectfully report : 

That they have given the subject the earnest consideration 
which its importance demands. The committee recognizes in the 
present mode of counting the ballots the fruitful and original 
source of pi'esent jDolitical troubles ; creating distrust in the minds 
of law-abiding citizens, on account of the power of the custodians 
of the ballot-box to defeat, by fraud, the intent and sovereign 
rights of the electors. Recent developments, and convictions of 
high officials at Charleston, in the United States Court, after pa- 
tient, laborious, and expensive trial, confirm the apprehensions and 
convictions of the citizens, as to the absence of security for the fu- 
ture purity of the ballot-box. 

Your committee are familiar with the conservative conduct of 
elections and safeguards of the ballot under the old laws of the 
State. Parties of any political complexion felt assured of the hon- 
est result of every election, so firm was their knowledge of the 
inviolability of the ballot-box in former times. The present sys- 



74 

tem invites conspiracy, and opens wide the door to the perjietration 
of every fraud. When the high sheriff of a county, whose powers 
are second only to those of the chief Executive of the State, has 
been convicted in the metropolis of the State by a jury of his 
choice, in a forum removed from local prejudices and bias, it is full 
time for the citizens to sound the alarm, and memorialize the legis- 
lative power for relief. 

To this end, this committee recommend the reference of this re- 
port to the Executive Committee for further action : 

To confer with the Governor, and invite his co-operation in a. 
memorial to the Legislature, at its next regular session, for such 
changes in the present election law, and especially in such parts- 
thereof as relate to the custody of the ballot-boxes for the period 
of ten days after elections, before the count is declared. 

J. H. Screven, 

For Committee. 

The report was considered immediately, adopted, and referred to 
the Executive Committee. 

Mr. Greenfield, of Richland, inti'oduced the following resolution, 
which was referred to the Executive Committee, under the rule : 

Whereas, By a joint resolution, dated March 26th, 1869, a 
committee was appointed from the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives for the purpose of investigating irregularities in the 
election in the Third Congressional District ; and whereas, it is be- 
lieved that a larger amount has been drawn from the Treasury 
than has been properly accounted for, be it, therefore. 

Resolved, That the Executive Committee be instructed to in- 
quire into the matter, with a view of determining what action 
should be taken in the matter, if any. 

The Convention took a recess until 4 P. M. 



75 



EVENING SESSION. 



The Convention re-assembled at 4 o'clock, the President, Hon, 
W. D. Porter, in the chair. 

The President announced the Convention ready to proceed to 
business. 

The President announced the following Committee of Five, under 
the resolution of Mr. Simons, to wait on the Governor, to secure 
postponement of taxes : 

Messrs. T. Y. Simons, W. M. Shannon, M. L. Bonham, James H. 
Giles, J. P. Richardson. 

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 

Mr. Warley, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolution to inquire and report on execution of mort- 
gage of the Blue Ridge Railroad to Henry Clews and others, made 
the following 

REPORT : 

The Executive Committee to whom was referred the resolution 
to inquire and report " upon what terms and for what consideration 
the making and execution of the Blue Ridge Railroad Company, 
and other Companies, of a mortgage to Henry Clews, Henry Gour- 
din and George S. Cameron, to secure the payment of certain bonds, 
was ratified and confirmed by the Legislature ; and the said mort- 
gage declared to be a lien prior to that of the State on all property 
described in said mortgage, and on the entire line of the Blue Ridge 



76 

Eailroad, and on all other properties of the several Companies, or 
which they, or either of them may hereafter acquire ;" and also to 
report " what action, if any, can be taken by this body to prevent 
the subordination of the State's lien upon the Blue Ridge Railroad 
and the entire properties of the other Companies, to junior claims 
of private individuals," beg leave to report: 

That upon a careful examination of the act of the Legislature, we 
can reach but one conclusion : That, for some reasons unknown to your 
committee, the Legislature has, without consideration, relinquished 
to private individuals, the State's lien upon the Blue Ridge Rail- 
road, and the entire properties of the other Companies (styled 
companies in the act), the Greenville and Columbia Railroad Com- 
pany. Such dealings by Trustees with the property or funds of their 
cestui que trust, can only be the result of fraud, are unauthorized 
by law and tire void. 

Your committee need not dwell upon the poverty of the State 
and her utter inability to enrich private individuals or corporations 
by such munificent gifts ; or upon the fact that legislators, how- 
ever generous they may be, are not authorized to devote public 
funds to the use and benefit of their friends or patrons. 

As to the second branch of the resolution your committee can 
suggest no better jDlan as a remedy, than is embraced in the follow- 
ing resolution : 

Mesolved, That the Tax-Payers' Convention, relying upon the 
high legal attainments and recognized patriotism of Messi's. Porter 
& Conner, Counsellors at Law, request them in the name of those 
whom they represent, to give the matter of this report their careful 
consideration, and, if in their judgment it be practicable, to take 
such steps as are necessary to prevent, by due process of law, the 
consummation of this fraud upon the property-holders of the State. 
Resolved, That cojDies of this rejDort and the original resolutions 
be officially communicated to Messrs. Porter & Conner. 
Res^Dectfully submitted, 

F. F. Warley, 
For Executive Committee. 



77 

Mr. Warley spoke as follows in support of the report and reso- 
lutions : 

SPEECH OF MAJOR F. F. WARLEY. 

3Ir. President : 

We have assembled for the purpose of ferreting out and expos- 
ing fraud, and to attempt to check it. While much has been said, 
of the sufferings of the State; of the unjust measures which have 
been enacted ; of unblushing corruptions and undisguised frauds ; 
not one word, sir, has been uttered in condemnation of the authors 
of these fniuds in legislation and of this corruption, which calls so 
loudly for correction. 

Had not Satan entered the garden as a tempter, our parents 
would not have sinned. And it is worthy of remembrance, that 
when the curse fell upon the tempted, it was coupled with a prom- 
ised blessing; but, to the tempter, it was unmixed with hope. 
There is no sin uninduced by temptation ; there can be no corrup- 
tion without corruptors ; and we fail to discharge the duty we owe 
to those who sent us here, if we do not endeavor to seek them out. 
The Legislature of South Carolina, ignorant as it is, could not have 
been bribed without money : that money must have been furnished 
from some source ; that source, it is our duty to endeavor to dis- 
cover. 

We should, in this matter, " cry aloud and spare not." We 
should, if we would faithfully discharge our duty, ferret out the 
guilty, and drag them to the bar of public opinion, as well as to 
the bar of public justice. When we evince a determination to do 
this, we will have commenced the purification of our government ; 
and if we persevere in the effort, the day will soon dawn when we 
may say to an oppressed and ruined people — " Fly not, stand still; 
corruption's debt is paid." 

I fear, Mr. President, that our suffering, heart-broken and im- 
poverished Mother, has not been the victim of strangers alone. 
That it is not only the deservedly-abused carpet-bagger, who revels 
amid luxuries purchased with money stolen from her. If we could 
tear the hands of the spoiler from her emaciated person, methinks 
the rings upon the fingers of some would declare them members of 
our household. For one, I am not afraid to denounce such men, in 
plain and unmistakeable language, simply because they are " native 
here and to the manner born;" for, in denouncing them, I am 
dischai'ging a solemn duty, which I owe to my poor, ruined 
country. 



78 

In this report, we grapple, not with tlio Legislature alone ; we 
grapple, besides, with two powerful and influential corporations ; 
two corporations which have been so constantly about the Legisla- 
ture, that the names of the three are intimately associated in the 
minds of all. Like Lazarus, they have laid at the rich man's door 
and have craved the crumbs which fell from his table ; the rich 
man's dogs have, time and again, licked their sores — here the par- 
allel ceases, for these beggars have not yet died. This contest may 
seem unequal ; but, sir, I am encouraged by the fact, that I am ad- 
vocating honesty, justice, and truth ; and opposing fraud, peculation 
and theft. And I am encouraged, boldly to take hold of the flimsy 
drapery which hides the hideous deity of corruption from the pub- 
lic gaze, and expose him in all his deformity ; as well as his 
priests, his votaries, and his woi'shippers. And this I intend to do. 

Now, sir, I desire to disclaim here all prejudice against any cor- 
poration within the State ; nor am I the blind partisan or paid ad- 
vocate of any. I approach the discussion of the subject matter of 
the report of your committee free from prejudice, but with a iirm 
determination faithfully to discharge what I conceive to be a high 
public duty ; and I hope to be able to do so, not only faithfully, but 
fearlessly; asserting as I now do, that I claim no exemption from 
personal responsibility. 

It is known, Mr. President, that during the session of the last 
Legislature, measures were introduced into both Houses, looking to 
the benefit of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad ring (for it 
had ceased to be a company), and at the same time to the destruc- 
tion of the Blue Ridge Railroad Company. I desire, in this con- 
nection, to refer more particularly to Mr. Whittemore's bill to 
withdraw the endorsement of the State from the bonds of the Blue 
Ridge Railroad Company, to the amount of four millions of dollars. 
The passage of this bill would have been a death-blow to this com- 
pany. It may be, and it probably is the truth, that to save itself 
this company associated with that mass of corrupiton, the Green- 
ville and Columbia Railroad ring, the instigator and principal 
agent in the stupendous fraud which resulted from the association. 
Am I to be told that under such circumstances the managers and 
officers of the Blue Ridge Company wei-e justified in resorting to 
deception, bribery and fraud? This may furnish a reason; but it 
supplies no excuse. 

When this particular act of legislation was engaging the atten- 
tion of the Legislature, the officers of the Blue Ridge Railroad 
Company came here prepared, by fair means or foul, to defeat it. 
Its defeat would render nugatory a measure in the House which, in 
contemplation of the passage of Mr. Whittemore's bill, was intend- 



79 

ed to benefit very materially the Greenville and Columbia ring. 
Thus while the Blue Ridge Company, by defeating the bill, would 
save itself, it would strike its old enemy, its life-time foe, severely. 
The President of the company asserted, when before your commit- 
tee, that he came prepared to spend a half million of dollars to de- 
feat the bill ; and more than that, he has boasted in our presence 
that he did defeat it by bribing State Senators, one or more. The 
Blue Ridge Company not only entered into bad associations for bad 
and corrupt purposes, but had shown itself capable of proving a 
valuable ally in any enterprise in which success depended upon 
corruption and fraud. These companies engaged in a common 
cause, and must share in common the opprobium which attaches. 
And, Mr. President, just here let me observe, if the Blue Ridge 
Railroad Company, which has been fostered by the State, has exi- 
gaged in corrupting the Legislature and robbing the Treasury, am 
I not right in saying that it is time for us to inquire who are the 
corruptors of our public officers and law-makers ? 

What next ? We find the Blue Ridge Railroad coalescing, con- 
federating with the Greenville and Columbia ring ; a ring which, at 
that time, had a record that the very smokes of hell coiild not ren- 
der darker or more disgusting ; a record which is no clearer to-day 
than it then was. 

But the Greenville and Columbia Railroad Company also has a 
history. Certain men, well known to this Convention, acting as 
agents for a ring of speculators, had by deception and misrepresen- 
tation, purchased the stock held by private individuals at a nomi- 
nal price. The Governor, by authority of the Legislature, then 
sold the State stock in this company to the same " ring," in which 
high State officials are the chief jewels. I have authority for say- 
ing that money to make these purchases was raised by hypothecat- 
ing State bonds. So, then, the corporation known as the Greenville 
and Columbia Railroad Company passed into the hands of private 
individuals who never paid out of their own pockets one cent for 
the stock, and became, what it yet is, a disreputable ring of State 
officials, carpet-baggers, scalawags and bankrupt stock jobbers. 

Both of these corporations were in trouble. On the one hand, 
the Blue Ridge Railroad Company could raise no funds on the faith 
of the State's endorsement, because the conditions of that endorse- 
ment restricted them to selling the bonds at or above ^jm'. On the 
other hand, the Greenville and Columbia ring was powerless to 
raise money, because there was an existing lien in favor of the 
State, on its whole property, and upon all property it might ac- 
quire. 

Such was the condition of things when these corporations con- 



80 

federated to defraud the tax-payers of the State, and mutually to 
enrich themselves. What was their scheme? To quit fighting each 
other, and to unite their influence and their money to secure the 
passage of an act based upon a proposed consolidation, by which, but 
loithoat consolidation, each would get what it wanted. The Blue 
Ridge Railroad Company would secure the privilese of selling its 
endorsed bonds at any sacrifice; and the Greenville and Columbia 
ring, by the subordination of the State's lien to the claims of pri- 
vate individuals, would be enabled to raise $1,500,000, as the fruits 
of their purchase made with public funds, as I have already 
shown. 

To accomplish this end, to consummate this scheme of fraud and 
villainy, they concoct the extraordinary Act of Assembly which has 
provoked this investigation. Gentlemen of the Convention, some of 
you have been familiar with legislation in South Carolina for many 
years ; I see around me .some, who legislated for the commonwealth 
in connection with Cheves, Hayne, McDuffie, Calhoun, and a host 
of others, whose names are household words about our desolated 
fire-places of to-day ; I say to you : Read this act, and I venture, 
with your long 'experience, you will pronounce it the most remark- 
able piece of legislation ever brought to your attention. The two 
corporations go before the Legislature, and represent the great ad- 
vantage and the many blessings which will result to the State, as 
the consec|uence of their consolidation ; and they ask the Legisla- 
ture, in view of the many public advantages to result therefrom, to 
grant them certain favors. What they wished I have already 
stated. Just allow me to add here, that their modest request in- 
volved the subordination by the State, of her first lien upon their 
respective roads, for amounts exceeding six millions of dollars, to 
the junior claims of private persons. This act is prepared, passed 
and ratified. All that these corporations ask for is given ; not 
however upon the consolidation being actually effected ; but to use 
the words of the act, " in view" of the proposed consolidation, these 
great favors are granted by legislative enactment. 

Those of us who are lawyers, know that a law without a penalty 
is an anomaly in legislation. Yet, mark you, while all the benefits 
of this act accrued to these corporations by virtue of its passage, 
the penalties do not attach until after the consolidation. It is an 
established fact, that this consolidation will never take place ; that 
it was never contemplated by the parties to this fraud ; and that 
the Greenville and Columbia Ring are now negotiating a sale of 
Their road to the South Carolina Railroad Company. In other 
words, this is a law without a penalty. Now, gentlemen of the 
Convention, is not the fi'aud of these corporations fully exposed? 



81 

Have they not eonibiiied and, by fraud and deception, used tlie 
Legislature to enable them to rob the tax-payers of the State ? 

But, sir, the Blue Ridge Railroad Company puts in two pleas. 
Avoiding, entirely, the questions of fraud, it answers, first : The 
lien of the mortgage of Crews & Co. was superior to the State's 
lien prior to the passage of the Act. For. say they, the State's 
lien grew out of its statutory mortgage, under which the lien at- 
tached upon the Comptroller-General endoi'sing the bonds of the 
Company : but, for some reason, this endorsement was not made, 
until after the mortgage to Crews & Co. had been executed and re- 
corded. Without stopping to inquire how this happened, we need 
only ask : If you really think the lien of the State is, by force of 
law, inferior to that of Crews & Co., why did you have the con- 
trary declared in the Act? This piece of duplicity is one of the 
many badges of fraud with which the Act abounds. Secondly : 
They say, "The State's lien was under and by virtue of a statutory 
mortgage and, of course, attaches only to the fifty-six miles of road 
within the State. So, after all, the State relinquishes very little 
to us." True; but they forget the further gifts of the Act: the 
privilege of selling $4,000,000 of bonds at any price they please. 
But, sir, he who will steal a pin will steal a sovereign. Fraud 
does not consist in the amount stolen, but, in the principle of mor- 
als which is violated. 

But, it may be urged, that the Blue Ridge Railroad Company 
is made to figure too prominently in connection with this fraud. I 
have only to answer : if any undue prominence has been given to 
this Company, it may be attributed to the language used by its 
President and Attorney before your Committee. 

Allow me, sir, before concluding, to remark : That the sins of 
the Greenville and Columbia ring were familiar to the officers of 
the Blue Ridge Railroad Company ; some of them were bound up 
in''the peculations and speculations of that delectable set of stock 
jobbers and swindlers ; they were peculiarly interested in their 
financial prospects, and they are so to-day. They knew that these 
men had spent the money of the State to advance their private 
ends. I care nothing about the tricks of trade or the rules of 
financiering. This I know : That he who spends the money of 
another for his own purposes, is, morally, a thief. He who makes 
common cause with thieves, has no reason to complain, if he be re- 
garded as a thief; and we know that he is, of necessity, one. 

If I have spoken earnestly, Mr. President, it is because I feel 
deeply the wrong which has been inflicted on the State by, in part, 
her own sons. If I have used language which seemed harsh, it ha.s 
been in the endeavor to express, to some extent, my utter abhor- 



82 

rence and contempt tor that false system of mi.)ral.s, which makes 
the ends aiiiied at justify the means used ; which makes the amount 
of condemnation and the extent of punishment visited upon crime, 
depend upon the wealth and so-called social jDOsition of the ci'imi- 
nal. I scorn the idea that the rich man in his glory, and the 
mighty man in his power, may indulge in crime with impunity and 
be passed by the world with a smile of recognition ; while the poor 
tool he uses, is consigned to prison and made the associate of felons. 
If I have displayed zeal and ardor in this exposure of fraud and 
vice, it is because I would save the »State, not from ignorant and cor- 
rupt legislators, so much, as from rich, aspiring and unprincipled 
men, some of them, im])orted it is true, but many of them degen- 
erate and unworthy sons of that noble, though now impoverished, 
motlier whom they rob. 

The report was considered immediately and adopted, and the re- 
solutions agreed to. 

Mr. Butler from the Committee of Eleven stated that that com- 
mittee would not be ready to report before to-morrow. 

Mr. Warley moved that when the Convention adjourn it ad- 
journ to meet to-morrow at 10 A. M. 

Carried. 

Mr. B. H. Wilson introduced the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the Executive Committee be increased by adding 
the names of John L. Manning, M. L. Bonham and A. Burt 

thereto. 

The resolution was considered immediately, and agreed to. 
Mr. Jaines A. Hoyt introduced the following resolution : 

Resolved, That the report of the Committee on Election and 
Suffrage Laws adopted by the Convention be placed in the hands 
of a special committee of seven members of this Convention, whose 
duty it shall be to transmit the report as a memorial to the Legis- 
lature on the subject of proportional representation, accompanied by 
such suggestions as they may deem advisable in order to secure the 
passage of a law at the earliest practicable moment after the Legis- 
lature is convened, thnt tlip system of cumulative voting may be 



83 

made applicable to the next general election, and that the principle 
may be engrafted in general upon our system of suffrage ; and fur- 
ther, that this special committee be instructed to use their best ex- 
ertions in favor of the passage of this just, wholesome and equitable 
provision, so as to bring about a full and complete representation 
of all the people, and the protection of their rights and interests of 
persons and property in every respect. 

The rule was suspended, and the resolution considered immedi- 
ately and agreed to. 

The Convention then adjourned till to-morrow at 10 A. M. 



FOURTH DAFS PEOCEEDINGS. 



Friday, May 12, 1871. 



Pursuant to adjournment, the Convention met at 10 A. M., and 
was called to order by the President, Hon. W. D. Porter. 

The President announced the Convention ready to proceed to 
business. 

The Clerk read the minutes of yesterday's proceedings, which 
were confirmed. 

The President announced the following committee: 

COMMITTEE ON CUMULATIVE VOTING : 

( Under the resolution of Mr. Hoyt.') 

James A. Hoyt, D. H. Chamberlain, M. W. Gary, Edwin J. 
Scott, W. H. Wallace, B. H. Wilson, Henry Gourdin. 

The President requested those delegates who had neglected to 
enroll their names to do so at the Clerk's desk. 

The following additional delegates appeared and enrolled : 

Colleton County. — J. J. Fox, J. K. Terry. 

Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred certain resolutions, in reference to the Sterling Loan, made 
the following 



86 



REPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to whom was referred certain resolu- 
tions, in reference to the Sterling Loan, and obligations which may 
hereafter be created, beg leave to report: 

That they have considered the same, and recommend their adop- 
tion, in the following form: 

Mesolved, That this Convention, representing the property-hold- 
ers and tax-payers of the State of South Carolina, do hereby deem 
it our duty to declare, that the so-called Sterling Loan, or any 
other bonds or obligations, hereafter issued, purporting to be under 
and by virtue of the authority of this State, as at present consti- 
tuted, will not be held binding on us ; and that we recommend to 
the peojDle of the State, in every manner and at all times, to resist 
the payment thereof, or the enforcement of any tax to pay the 
same, by all legitimate means Avithin their power. 

Resolved, That we deem it our duty to warn all persons not to 
receive, by way of purchase, loan, or otherwise, any bond or obliga- 
tion hereafter issued by the present State Government, or by any 
subsequent government, in which the property-holders of the State 
are not represented, purporting to bind the property or pledge the 
credit of the State ; and that all such bonds or obligations will be 
held to be null and void, as having been issued in fraud and in de- 
rogation of the rights of that portion of the people of this State, 
lapon whom the public burdens are made to rest. 

Resolved, That a Committee of Five be appointed by the Presi- 
dent of the Convention, to investigate and report a plan to restore 
the credit of the State, and to confer with the representatives of 
the " Fire Loan Securities" of the State, which have been practi- 
cally repudiated by the State authorities, with a view to repair the 
damage to the good faith and honor of the Commonwealth, by in- 
fluencing an early liquidation of these obligations. 

The report was taken up for consideration, and the resolutions 
considered as a whole. The report and resolutions were adopted. 



87 

Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolutions of Mr. Adams, of Richland County, in refer- 
ence to taxation without adequate representation, made the fol- 
lowing 

PvEPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to whom was referred the resolution 
of Mr. Adams, of Richland, in reference to the collection of taxes 
for the year 1871, beg leave respectfully to report: 

That having already considered and reported upon the sui:)iect 
matters therein embraced, they ask leave to be discharged from their 
further consideration. 

The report was taken up for consideration, adopted, and the com- 
mittee discharged from the further consideration of the re.-^olu- 
tion. 

Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolution of Mr. Aldrich, of Barnwell, to appoint a 
committee of five to prepare and print a truthful statement of the 
condition of the State now and since the war, made the following 

REPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to whom was referred a resolution to 
appoint a committee of five to prepare a report of the condition ot 
the State now and since the war, beg leave to report : 

That they have considered the same, and recommend that the 
committee be raised for that purpose, and that the following gen- 
tlemen compose the same, viz : Messrs. A. P. Aldrich, Armistead 
Burt, J. L. Manning, M. C. Butler, AV. D. Porter. 

The report was taken uj^ for consideration, adopted, and the com- 
mittee so appointed. 

Mr. Aldrich, from the Executive Committee, presented the fol- 
lowing resolution : 



88 

Resolved, That the Hon. Mr. James Chesnut, of Kershaw, be 
appointed with Messrs. Porter and Conner in discharging the du- 
ties assigned to tliese gentlemen by a report adopted yesterday. 

Mr. \V. H. Treseott moved the following resolution as an amend- 
ment : 

Resolved, That the gentlemen to whom has been referred for 
their legal opinion the question, whether the Legislature of the 
State has the right to postpone the statutory lien of the State upon 
the Blue Ridge Railroad, to the lien created by the mortgage of 
said company to Messrs. Henry Gourdin, George S. Cameron and 
Henry Clews, trustees, under and by virtue of the act of 1868, be 
requested to prepare and publish their opinion at the earliest prac- 
ticable opportunity. 

On the amendment Mr. Treseott made the following remarks: 

SPEECH OF MR. TRESCOTT. 

3Ir. President : 

I avail myself of the privilege which has been extended to me by 
your resolution inviting me to a participation in your deliberations, 
to move an amendment to the resolution just read. 

" Resolved, That the counsel to whom has been referred for 
their legal opinion the question, whether the Legislature of the 
State has the right to postpone the statutory lien of the State 
upon the Blue Ridge Railroad, to tlie lien created by the mortgage 
of said company to Messrs. Henry Gourdin, George S. Cameron and 
Henry Clews, trustees, under and by virtue of the act of 1868, be 
requested to prepaie and publish their opinion at the earliest prac- 
ticable opportunity." 

I feel, I confess, some embarrassment in submitting my reasons 
for the passage of this resolution, an embarrassment arising not 
from its subject, but from the character of the body to whom it is 
submitted. I had been under the impression that this was an as- 
sembly of private citizens, who, bound together by common inter- 
ests and sympathies, had come together for the purpose of exchang- 



89 

ing opinions and information, of consulting with all the frankness 
of old association and long established confidence upon the condition 
of the State to which we all belong. But the action of yesterday, 
if it means anything, implies a great deal more. It means that the 
body, without legal existence and iiTesponsible, intends to take 
charge of the public and private interest of State — that, without 
the means of adequate investigation, they assume to approve or to 
condemn, to create or destroy. Whether this is to be done by the 
inherent authority of the body, or whether its decrees and behests 
are to be carried out formally by an arrangement with the nominal 
State Government, I do not know — I do not propose to inquire. I 
know this, however, that it is the first step in a very dangerous 
path, and it can make no difference how respectable are the indi- 
vidual elements of a body, without the- form and authority of law, 
when such a body begins to legislate, it is the first step to social 
anarchy. 

But, Mr. President, I do not propose to undo the action you have 
initiated ; I do not even ask you to re-consider what 1 think un- 
w^ise ; but I do ask that you shall not make it unjust, and stopping 
just where you have stopped is unjust. What was that action V 

In this State there is a corporation, which has under its charge an 
enterprise which, for nearly half a century, has been cherished by the 
people of South Carolina with persevering and hopeful assiduity — an 
enterprise in whose inception was sacrificed the life of one of the 
noblest and purest of your statesmen — him whose effigy, in the 
better days of your commonwealth, you placed upon portals of 
your Capitol, as the emblem of public honor and integrity, that 
your legislators, as they passed beneath the shadow of his fame, 
might carry with them to their daily duties the memory of his life, 
aims and deeds. From the days of General Hayne. unti] to-day, 
the State has never stinted her aid, and his successors have labored 
through good and evil report, through difficulties almost insupera- 
ble, through embarrassments scarcely conceivable, to complete that 
great Avorlc — that direct communication with the West — upon 
which the future prosperity of this State depends — the prosperity, 
especially, of that metropolis, once the pride of Carolina, and 
whose piteous cry of oppression and despondency has assembled you 
here to-day. Well, in the progress of time, in the process of its 
work, the President and Directors of that corporation have deemed 
it judicious to ask of the Legislature certain legislation — what the 
character of the legislation is, I will discuss directly ; at present, I 
confine myself to this simple statement — that they asked and 
obtained legislation which they deemed advisable for the use of 
the securities which the State guaranteed, and which guarantee, 



90 

remember you. has been iieitlier impeached nor directly discre- 
dited. Upon the faith of the Legislature, that corpoi'ation ha.s 
gone upon the market for the negotiation of these securities. What 
do you now propose to do? You adopt a report containing certain 
statements, and a resohition calling for the legal opinion of emi- 
nent counsel, by which you mean, with all the weight which your 
authority carries, to say to the world that you believe this legisla- 
tion to be invalid. Of course, to the extent that your opinion so 
expressed cai'ries weight, you mean to discredit, and do discredit, 
the bonds of the Blue Ridge Railroad Company. Now, it makes 
no difference that the legal point you make is, practically, of very 
small importance — that if you had not a legal opinion, but a legal 
decision of the Sujireme Court, it would not eifect the value of the 
bonds, would not remove the guarantee of the State, would not 
prevent their negotiation, and would not in the slightest degree re- 
lieve the State or lessen the burden of the oj)pressed tax-payer, in 
who.se interest we are told this action is taken. While this is true, 
still the exj^ression of your o2:)inion taints and discredits the bonds 
to this extent — mark what I say — to this extent : That they be- 
come more easily the prey of speculators — that is all. You do not 
and cannot prevent the sale ol' the bonds, but you enable the stock- 
jobber to speculate upon the necessities of the Company, and Iniy 
that cheap which the State will have to redeem. Gentlemen, is 
this common sense ? Do you wish that the Blue Ridge Railroad 
should be abandoned? If so, there is a wiser and better and surer 
mode of proceeding. If you, representing as you so completely do, 
the ])roperty, the character, the intelligence, and the patriotism of 
the State, wish the road abandoned, who wishes to build it? It is 
the States enterprise — for years the pet project of the State. No 
words of mine can describe its value ; no zeal of mine can vindi- 
cate its importance with one-tenth of the fervor displayed, year 
after year, session after session, b}^ the gentlemen who set around 
me. If, tlien, you wish it abandoned, say so; make provision for 
the payment of its small but honest indebtedness, and, my word fo]- 
it, the four million of bonds will be surrendered to the State, not 
one missing, not one sold, not one stolen. But, if you do not mean 
this, do not take action which, by simply crippling the enterprise 
and di.screditing the bonds, puts them in danger, from which they 
are to-day exempt. 

What, then, do I ask you to do, in common fairness and in view of 
the action which }'ou have already taken ? Simply this : You are 
al)out to adjourn. You have by this resolution expressed your 
doubt as to the validity of this legislation. Do not leave that 
doubl unsolved to prejudice Dur rights. Settle it n(.)W at once; do 



91 

Slot adjourn and leave it uncertain and indefinite. You have select- 
ed certain counsel, none better. 1 do not know that they will as- 
sume the responsibility thus thrust upon them. Let us know 
it. For, recollect, it that opinion confirms ours, if this, and this 
■only, is the objection you have to the legislation in question, then, 
if the decision of the arbiters you have yourselves selected is in our 
favor, your resolution becomes approval, instead of censure. Your 
■opinion is strength to our bonds, and not weakness. The bonds of 
the company are now, to a limited extent, held as coll.ateral for a 
.small loan, required by the necessities of its work, and negotiations 
are pending for the sale of the bonds. If you are right, and the 
priority of the State lien is to be restored, let us know in time, 
for it will be no embarrassment, if once distinctly understood, to 
the negotiation. If we are right, learn it yourselves, and withdraw 
.all unnecessary interference with the business of the company. — 
This is but common justice, and to this demand I will not anticipate 
a solitary objection. 

And here, Mr. President, I might stop. But, whatever may be 
the impression or prejudices or convictions of those who surround 
me, I have no apprehension that I will be denied a fair hearing by 
a body of South Carolina gentlemen. The publication of your re- 
port and resolution will give a color to this legislation which, I 
think, unjust to the President and disadvantageous to the interest 
of the company. I pro2:)ose, very plainly and briefly, to tell what 
I know of its history. I do it with reluctance, and with reluctance 
only, because I am the Solicitor of the road, and because, whatever 
may be the personal kindness towards me of the members of this 
'Convention, and looking around upon the familiar faces of so many 
whom I will venture to call my friends, I feel assured of that kind- 
ly feeling — yet I cannot but feel that what I may say will naturally 
be supposed to be colored by the pride of professional opinion and 
the interest which I have in the success of the corporation which I 
serve. But, while I am responsible only for my legal advice to the 
.body, I have been thoroughly familiar w^ith the difficulties that 
beset its administration, and more than that, I am the personal 
fi'iend of its President. I know his troubles, his labors — above all, 
I know his character ; and while I would have preferred that he 
should be vindicated by some one of those whom I see around me, 
the friend.s of his boyhood, his colleagues in the House and Senate, 
his associates for years upon the Board of Direction, the men under 
whose advice, and by whose assistance, he applied, in 1868, to the 
Legislature for the guarantee of these bonds now under discussion, 
I feel it my duty to place before you, what he has not the privilege 
•of doing, a plain history of tliis legislation, the cause which render- 



92 

ed it necessary and what I believe to be the true character and con- 
sequences of its provisions. I shall confine myself to what I know. 
I regret that I shall be obliged to refer to the Greenville Road, 
but I do not propose to denounce its present owners. They are 
responsible men, let them bear the burden of their offence, or clear 
them of the charge of offence. The Blue Ridge Road found the 
Greenville Road, a neighbor, with whom its relations must be friend- 
ly or hostile, and I can say, with truth, they were not friendly. 
The Greenville Road, in pursuit of its own policy, and in conformi- 
ty with its own system of morals, desired and determined to appro- 
priate the four millions of bonds belonging to the Blue Ridge Road. 
For that purpose its friends prepared a bill, setting forth that the 
Blue Ridge Road could not be built, for a Western connection from 
Greenville or Spartanburg was better, and authorized the Green- 
ville Road to take up the indebtedness of the Blue Ridge, and then 
appropriate its four million bonds to the repair of its own road and 
the completion of the amended connection. Upon learning this in- 
tention, General Harrison had a conference with its projectors, and 
refusing altogether on any terms to abandon the Blue Ridge, offered 
such opposition as upon rejection induced its friends to give up the 
project. Scarcely had he left Columbia than he was recalled by 
the intelligence that a new scheme of attack upon his bonds was 
contemplated. The new plan was this : A bill was introduced into 
the Senate cancelling the State endorsements upon the Blue Ridge 
bonds, while another bill was introduced into the House by which, 
upon the ground that the State was thus relieved of four million of 
liability, a new guarantee was given of four million to the Green- 
ville Road — these new guarantied bonds were authorized to be con- 
verted under the conversion act into State bonds. I will not char- 
acterize this legislation. It needs no adjectives. When General 
Harrison reached Columbia, the House bill had passed three read- 
ings, and the Senate bill two. His duty both to the road of which 
he was in charge, and the State, forbid him to allow such acts to 
become law, without any effort at defence. Why, if the bill can- 
celling the endorsement of the State had passed, if, as it proposed, 
the existing indebtedness of the road was paid, what would it have 
cost the State, not in remote liability, but in actual cash ? A just 
mortgage debt, with accrued interest of something over two hun- 
dred thousand dollars, advances secureil by the bonds as collateral 
to between two and three hundred thousand more, the damages 
claimed by the contractor upon a contract of one million and a half, 
broken and abandoned, and it he had been base enough, anything 
more which he might choose to add as the recompense for hie con- 
sent. 



93 

He resisted tlie bill ; he defeated the hill, and when the bill in 
the Senate failed, the bill from the House was abandoned, because, 
without cancelling the old endorsement of four millions, the new 
endorsement of two could not be obtained. Well, at this point, 
the Greenville Road proposed that the war should cease, and that 
the interests of the two roads should be consolidated. Look at the 
proposal ! The Blue Ridge Road had but fifty miles of completed 
road ; when they went upon the market with their securities, they 
met two difhculties — 1. That their unfinished road was not ade- 
cpiate security : 2. That the loan was not large enough to complete 
the road. The consolidation made a road four hundred miles, of 
which one hundred and eighty were complete, and making a gross 
income of eight hundred thousand dollars, while the completion of 
the whole line opened an enormous and lucrative ti'affic. The 
bonds of the Blue Ridge, endorsed by the consolidated compaiiy, 
would be securities sure of easy negotiation. General Harrison 
and his board consented to this consolidation, upon two conditions — 
1. That the Blue Ridge Road should be adequately represented 
upon the consolidated road ; and, 2. That sufficient guarantee 
should be given that the four million of Blue Ridge bonds should 
be expended upon the Blue Ridge Road. But the general consol- 
idation act required the election of the new Board, a President, 
equilization of stock, etc., etc., which could not be effected before 
the adjournment of the Legislature. It was agreed, therefore, to 
accept the present act as a preliminary to the actual consolidation. 
General Harrison stipulating that, as an effort had been made to 
discredit the Blue Ridge bonds, by the attempt to cancel them, 
that endorsement should be confirmed. 

I say to-day, and I am willing to leave it to the judgment of any 
impartial man, that this proposed consolidation was wise and in 
the best interest, both of the railroads and the State. 

But the ground taken by the report and resolutions is that in 
one particular this bill is injurious to the State, inasmuch as it 
postpones the statutory lien of the State to the mortgage which 
protects private individuals. My reply to that is : 

1. That no statutory lien existed when the mortgage was exe- 
cuted, and that therefore in point of fact, and as an inevitable legal 
consequence, the mortgage is prior to the statutory lien. When, by 
the act of 18G8, the endorsement of the State M^as authorized upon 
four millions of bonds, no mortgage was asked. Its security was 
purely voluntary. The statutory lien of the State became binding, 
when according to the provisions of the act, the Comptroller Gener- 
al put his endorsement upon the bonds. Under the most eminent 
legal advice in the State, the mortgage was prepared and recorded 



94 

according to l;i\v, but by delays unforseen and beyond the fontrol 
of the company, the bonds were not signed for months after tlie ex- 
ecution and record of the mortgage. The priority of the mortgage, 
is theretorc, a fact independent of this legislation. Pnit besides 
this, there was a first mortgage, not a large one, but as 1 have said 
with accrued interest amounting to about $260,000, which was 
prior to both the mortgage of 1868 and the statutory lien. To 
complain of the legishition because it j)Ostpones the State lien is 
simply to reject the facts. 

2. The }uortgage was a better security than the statutory liens. 
It was, cumulative and voluntary. The statutory lien, as every 
lawyer will admit, could not extend beyond the limits of the State, 
covering only fiftv-six miles of road, of which oidy thirty-two were 
finished. The mortgage covered all the projjerty of the whole road 
from one end to the otlier. And it must be recollected that so long 
as the mortgage protected the bond-holders, there was no acci'uing 
liability to the State. She Avanted no other security as long as the 
bond-lioldcrs did not fall back upon her endorsement. 

3. Whether the release of the prior lien of the State was right or 
wrong, wise or foolish, the Legislature had the right to make it. and 
once made, it is complete. This position 1 am willing to leave to 
any competent legal authority. 

I have thus attempted to show that so far from the State being 
injured bv this legislation, she is benefited. That the postponement 
•of the State lien complained of, is not the result of this legislation, 
but existed as matter of law and fact before it. And that even if 
it is unwise, it is irrevocable. 

I have endeavored to discuss this (|ue.-tion, clearly, temperately, 
and simply in its business aspect. I have no objection to the con- 
sultation of the eminent counsel selected. I think it but justice 
that this question be settled at once, and submitting the amend- 
ment which I have moved, I leave the whole subject to the consid- 
eration of the Convention. 

Mr. Warley rose, and in reply to Mr. Trescott, spoke as tollows : 

Sl^EECn or MR. F. F. WARTJCY. 

3Ir. President : 

I desire at the commencement of my reply to the remarks of the 
gentleman from Anderson (Mr. Trescott), to repeat what I said on 
yesterday. I am not the prejudiced adversary of any corporation 



95 

in the State : neither am I the blind partisan or paid attorney of 
any. 

What has fallen from the gentleman proves that he either does 
not comprehend the issues involved in the report of your commit- 
tee, or that, for reasons of his own, he does not desire to discuss 
them. I have too much respect for his intelligence and acumen to 
presume the former ; but I will not intrude so much upon his own 
affairs as to suggest reasons why he has gone after false issues in 
this discussion. 

The gentleman has, with more warmth than prudence or good 
manners, read this Convention a lecture upon their self-assuming 
right to meddle with the interests of private individuals. He for- 
gets that public corporations are but the combination of individual 
rights and interests. Besides, when private individuals mix them- 
selves up with the frauds of public corporations, they may reason- 
ably expect exposure and public condemnation. But, says the 
gentleman, "' you can't interfere with these stu2:)endous frauds ; you 
can't assume to condemn these outrageous thefts of public money, 
because, forsooth, by doing so you interfere with individual rights 
and endanger the success of private schemes." There is more of 
the lawyer than of the statesman ht this argument. 

As I said on yesterday, public frauds would not exist were it not 
for private individuals who act the j^art of corruptors. Were none 
of these engaged in bribing members of the Legislature, we would 
hear nothing of such frauds as the one I have endeavored to ex- 
pose. It comes with ill grace from any citizen who values liis good 
name, to excuse, palliate or apologize for such acts. But, sir, the 
gentleman displays bad taste and worse judgment when he invokes 
the shade of the immortal Hayne to screen the Blue Ridge Railroad 
Company from public condemnation, as a just consequence of its 
corruptions and fraud. 

Sir, let us in imagination enter the Council Chamber of the na- 
tion on that memorable day when the Demosthenes of Carolina 
was battling against oj»pressive taxation, and listen to his words. 
He is speaking of what our ancestors would behold if, in spirit, 
they were allowed to visit the land they had loved so dearly. He 
says: "Where all was prosperous, flourishing and happy, they 
would behold nothing but decay, gloom and desolation ; not even 

' a rose of wilderness 

Left on the stalk, to tell where the garden had been.' " 

Beholding these sad reverses in the condition of their descend- 
ants, they would naturally inquire what moral or political evil had 
passed ovei' the land, to blast and wither the fair iidieritance they 



9G 

had left thorn. And, .sir, when they should be told tliat a system 
of taxation, infinitely more unjust and oppressive than that from 
which we had been freed by their toils and sufferings, had been as- 
sumed and was exercised over us by our own brethren, they would 
indignantly exclaim, like the ghost of the murdered Hamlet when 
urging his afflicted son to avenge the tarnished honor of his house : 
■' If you have nature in you, Lear it not ! " Change the picture. 
Suppose the spirit of the gifted Hayne could enter this assemblage, 
and looking into the faces of many here whom he knew in tire 
flesh, should inquire the cause of our impoverished condition ; why 
it was that commerce and trade and industry, in all their branches, 
were so lifeless and inert ; and above all, why this assemblage of 
Carolina's sons in council ? And should be told that it was in great 
part owing to systematic fraud and corruptions, openly and defi- 
antly carried on by imported adventurers and domestic renegades. 
What think you, sir, would be his injunction? I hear it, as it falls 
in measured tones from angel lips, " If you have nature in you, 
beav it not ! " Don't invoke his presence here; the presence of one 
so noble, so generous, so high-minded and so good, to sustain and 
cloak a fraud like this. I protest against it, in the names of jus- 
tice and of history. 

But the gentleman complains because the schoolmates, the past 
friends and associates of the President of the Blue Ridge Railroad 
Company, have not seen fit to defend him when assailed here, but 
have, by remaining silent, devolved that duty ujion him. Have I 
assailed the character of the gentleman's friend ? I have only I'e- 
peated his own bold avowals of his corruption, as made before your 
committee. I have only declared his own avowals of his shame- 
less use of money, for the purposes of bribery. If he has been as- 
sailed, he himself has been the assailant. How, then, could his 
friends have been expected to shield him from his own attacks ? 
to rescue his name from the cesspool of corruption and vice into 
which he had thrown it? 

I have said, sir, that the gentleman from Anderson has not com- 
prehended the issues raised by the report ; he seems, also, not to 
have understood the intention or spirit of the resolutions. He 
seems to imagine, that the question we have submitted for exami- 
nation to gentlemen " of high legal attainments and well known 
jiatriotism," is simply — -"Has the Legislature the right, to subordi- 
nate the lien of the State to other liens, under any circumstances?" 
If he honestly believes this, I say to him, in all candor, that he is 
woefully mistaken. What we propose, goes very much further 
than this ; though the question he suggests may not be so free from 
• lifhoulties as he seems to suppose. He knows, as well as other le- 



97 

gal gentlemen on this floor, that whei-e an advantage is gained over 
a trustee, acting within the scope of his trusts, the courts will pro- 
tect the cestui que I rust. And, sir, we presume that our courts will 
not countenance a Iraud, perpetrated upon the tax-payers of the 
State, by deception and false representations, practiced upon and 
made to their trustee, the Legislature, by these corporations. The 
resolutions contemplate no wi-itten opinion, to be addressed to the 
people: but rather, a written complaint, to be addressed to the 
courts. 

The gentleman is mistaken, if he supposes that he can excite 
sympathy hei'e, by saying that our action will make the bonds of 
the Company he represents unsaleable. Let me tell him, that such 
is precisely our object. There is prevalent, a very general and very 
reasonable imioression, that men who have proved themselves capa- 
ble of inducing such legislation by such means, are not safe custo- 
dians of millions of the public money. And, sir, if there is any 
virtue left in law, we don't intend that they shall be our agents; 
we hope yet, to defeat their schemes, to wrest from them their plun- 
der, and extort from them, robbers as they are, the cry — "Have 
pity upon us. " 

But we are told that our action is only calculated to help the 
brokers and stock-jobbers of New York; by which, probably, we 
are to understand that these bonds will be sold anyhow, and our 
depreciation of them, will thereby, ultimately help these classes of 
persons. Be it so, sir. Better far to help them, than to enrich 
those of our own people who would plunder us, and grow fat upon 
our poverty. The gentleman professes to favor us with a history 
of this swindle. In so doing he, unfortunately, and I expect unin- 
tentionally, speaks of these corporations, who got the Legislature 
to publish the bans of their marriage, as lifetime foes. Now, sir, 
can the gentleman tell us when they made friends? Don't he 
know that they were enemies when the Legislature was gulled by 
this pretended, but never intended, consolidation ; and that they 
are enemies still ? Have they ever been reconciled ? He knows 
that they have not. Thei-e could be, of necessity, no union or 
consolidation of the roads, until friendly relations were established. 
But they were enemies then ; and they are enemies now. Union 
was never intended ; they deliberately and intentionally deceived 
the Legislature — and whatever of grace there is for them in the 
Act, was obtained by deception and fraud. 

Why has not the gentleman, in his epitome of this interesting 
piece of legislative larceny, told us how it happens, that while the 
benefits of the Act are bestowed " in view " of the contemplated 
consolidation, the penalties of the law, do not attach until after the 



98 

consolidation takes place ? Or, as there is lobe no consolidation, 
unless the action of this Convention compels it, how it happens, 
that a law which grants such rich favors, has no penalty attached 
to it at all '? 

Mr. President, when the gentleman aflirms that an advantage 
was obtained over the State by the non-endorsement of the bonds 
within reasonable time, and adds : " that this was the result of 
reasons which he need not state," he uses language which demands 
explanation. 

■ [Mr. Trescott here explained that in the signing of the bonds he 
referred merely to their mechanical execution ; that the non-en- 
dorsement of the bonds could in no wise affect the mortgage of the 
State.] 

Mr. Warley continued: 

This strange neglect, followed by such consequences as the gen- 
tleman claims resulted from it, needs explanation. Unexplained, 
it has much the character of collusion between the State officers who 
deal largely in railroad stocks, and officers of the road to defraud 
the State. 

The gentleman dwells on the fact that the lien of the Suite, un- 
der the statutory mortgage, only attaches to the portion of the Blue 
Ridge Railroad within the State — fifty-six miles. He entirely ig- 
nores the feature of the act so far as the Company he represents is 
concerned — the withdrawal of the right of the State to dictate the 
rate at which the four millions of bonds should be sold. Why has 
he done this ? Does he not know that this was the promised boon, 
which secured the co-operation of the Blue Ridge Railroad Com- 
pany in this huge swindle and unmitigated fraud ".' And yet, he 
would divert our minds ; and kindly insists upon our noticing how 
small a portion of the road is within the State. But, if that were 
all the State relinquished, and that relinquishment Avas procured 
by falsehood and by fraud, the offence would be complete, and the 
company would have richly earned the scorn of every honest man. 
Stealing is the felonious appropriation of anothers property to one's 
use. It matters not whether it be a pin or a sovereign. This act 
of perfidy is not now rendered more perfidious because it involves the 
stealing of millions of dollars. If it involved the taking of but one 
dollar by similar means, it would be equally as perfidious. 

Mr. President, one prominent feature in this transaction, is the 
part which native Carolinians have played in it; and it is to this 
feature that I ask to be allowed to address myself in closing. I 
say, sir, and I say it in sorrow, that some of our own household, men 



99 

whom the State, in the past, has delighted lo honor, but whose 
'honors have been withered by the atmosphere of cori'uption that 
they breathe, are involved in this swindle. 1 can't conceive Low 
these men, thoroughly acquainted as they are with the negro char- 
acter, and with the circumstances which, up to a recent dale, sur- 
rounded the negroes then in slavery — knowing, as they well Icm^w, 
that in mature manhood the negro is mentally a child, and that, 
morally, he never passes the stature of infancy, could reconcile it 
to themselves to approach them, when, by force of law, they were 
suddenly raised to political power, and by appealing to their ciii- 
pidity and avarice, make them their instruments, to effect the rob- 
bery of their impoverished white i^rethren. The liighwayman 
spares the idiot, the pirate has mercy on the fool, but these, our 
own people, use idiot and fool alike to consummate their schemes 
■of spoliation and plunder. A legislature, composed chieflv of our 
former slaves, has been bril)ed by these men — to do what? To 
give them the privilege, by law, of plundering the pro])erty-hold- 
ers of the State, now almost bankrupt, by reason of the burden of 
taxation under which they labor. 

Now, gentlemen of this Convention, one word as to the amend- 
ment proposed by the gentleman from Anderson. All that that 
amendment aims to secure is a report, which, it is hoped, will assist 
them in selling the bonds, which we, hereafter, will have to pay. 
We do not propose to render them any such assistance. On the 
contrary, aiid we say it to the world ! we intend to strangle this 
fraud in its infancy. I trust the amendment will be voted down 
with that remarkable unaniiuity which has characterized the vote 
by which the report and resolutions were adopted. 

Mr. Giles then moved to lay the amendment on the table. 
The motion was adopted, and the amendment laid on the table. 
Mr. E. J. Scott, of Richland, offered the following resolution : 

Whereas, It is customary and proper that persons, entrusted 
with large amounts of the public funds, should guarantee the safe 
keeping and faithful disbursement of the same ; and, ivhereat;, H. 
H. Kimpton, Esq., the State Financial Agent in New York, who 
holds about two millions of State bonds, has given nothing but his 
own pei-sonal obligation for the discharge of his duties ; 

Resolved, That the attention of the Governor and the Attorney- 
General be specially directed to the risk of loss by the death or 



100 

(l.'liiuli of said .-igoiir, aiui that they bti requested to rer|uire of liim 
a li'uid wiili such good and sufficient security as will protect the 
iuti'i'i'st of the State committed to his hands. 

The resolution, uii motion of Mr. T. Y. Simons, of Charleston, 
was considered immediately, and agreed to. 

Mr. Cadwalladi'r Jones, of York, introiluced the following reso- 
lution : 

Whereas, By the a(;t of the 2Gth of August, entitled an Act to 
authorize a State Loan, to pay interest on thepulilic debt, the Gov- 
ernor Avas avithorized to borrow on the credit of the State, on cou- 
[lon bonds, a sum not (wceeding one million of dollars, or so much 
thereof as may be necessai'V to pay tlif interest on the pul)lie debt; 
and 

Whereas, It appears that instead of one million, two millions of 
dollars of coupon bonds- were created, the one with the words, 
"For Interest"' engraved thereon, and the other without those 
words ; and 

Whereas, Although it is now stated thai ^000,000 of the two 
millions thus issued have been reealled; therefore, 

Itcsolvcd, That rliis Conventii)U cannot Intt deem this transaction 
as tincalled for, and without legal antliority, and as exhibiting an 
irregulailty and ( ajtacity tor fraud, which merits its stern condem- 
nation. 

On motion of Mr. Jones, the resolution was referred to the 
Committee of Eleven. 

Mr. Chesnut, from the Executive Committee, to whom was re- 
feri'ed the preamble and resolutions, relative to investigation in the 
Third Congressional District, made the following 

REPORT : 

The Executive Committee, to whom was referred a preamble and 
resolutions, in regard to a larger amount having been drawn from 



101 

the Treasury, ^y tlie committee of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, for the pvirpose of investigating irregularities in the 
Third Congressional District, than has been properly accounted for, 
ask leave to report : 

That they have considered the same, and recoraruend that the 
same be referred to the Attorney-General, with the recommenda- 
tion that the subject is well worthy of judicial examination, and, 
in the opinion of the committee, is entitled to the attention of the 
prosecuting oflicer of the State. ' 

The report was considered immediately and agreed to. 

Mr. T. Y. Simons, from the Special Committee, appointed to con- 
fer with the Governor, relative to the postponement of the collec- 
tion of the November tax, made the following 

REPORT. 

The Special Committee directed Ijy the Convention to confer with 
the Governor of the State, in relation to the postponement of the 
collection of the taxes in November ensuing, beg leave to report : 

That imjiiressed with the conviction, \inder the peculiar circumstan- 
ces of the case, and in view of the fact that the people of the State 
are thus called upon to pay the taxes for two separate years in one, 
of the justice of the measure of relief pro})Osed, they have had an 
interview with the Governor, who has authorized them to state to 
the Convention, that while the various ofhces will be open in No- 
vember for the reception of the taxes at that time, from such of the 
citizens as may be then prepared to pay them, yet that the period 
for their payment will be extended to the first of March, 1872. with- 
in which time if payment is made no penalty will attach. 

T. Y. Simons, Chairman. 

The report was considered immediately and adopted. 
Mr. Butler, from the Committee of Eleven, stated that his com- 
mittee, with the exception of one branch, was ready to reijort. 



102 

On motion of Mr. Rail the Convention took a recess of thirty 
rninntes. 

Upon re-assembling, Mr. Butler, from the Committe of Eleven, 
to confer with the Governor, reported as follows: 

REPORT. 

The committee to whom was referred the resolution of the Con- 
vention, "That a Committee of Eleven be appointed by the chair 
to confer with his Excellency Governor Scott, in pursuance of the 
fourth resolution of the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade 
of the city of Charleston, and report to this Convention in writing 
or otherwise," beg leave to report : 

That they have had an extended conference with the Governor,, 
pursuant to the resolution of instruction, eliciting the following 
results : 

1. It was stated to the Executive by your committee, that they vis- 
ited him. not as partisans of any political party, but simply as rep- 
resentatives of the tax-payers of the State, to ascertain in what 
manner they could co-operate with him in correcting many of the 
prevailing evils now causing popular discontent, and to obtain from 
him an official statement of such facts and suggestions as would 
promote confidence, and secure retrenchment and economy in the 
administration of the State Government. 

The Governor, in reply, expressed his gratification that he was 
afforded an opportunity to lay before the representatives of the tax- 
payers of the State the facts in his possession, and such information 
as would meet the views of the committee. 

He observed first, with reference to the finances of the State^ 
that, notwithstanding the rumors that an illegal and irregular ma- 
nipulation of the public funds had taken i^lace, it was the fact, 
that nothing had been done involving the credit of the State which 
was not strictly authorized by law. And to satisfy the committee, 
they were invited by the Treasurer, Comptroller General and State 
Agent, to make a tlmrough examination of their respeittive oflicial 



103 

accounts. It is very gratifying to your committee to state that 
these officials were present at the interview, and have given free 
access to their office-s and books, upon which a special report will be 
made by a sub-committee of this Convention. 

The Governor produced the printed statement of the funded debt 
of South Carolina, which has been furnished to the members of the 
Convention by the Comptroller General, and remarked that he be- 
lieved it to be substantially true, and that he had not signed any 
other bonds than those set forth in said statement, and that none 
had been issued except by authority of law. 

2. With reference to the unnecessary multiplication and increase 
of State and County offices, he remarked that he was satisfied a 
large number of officials could be profitably dispensed with, and 
that if the Convention would take positive action upon the subject, 
it would probably have weight with the Legislature, and induce 
economical restrictions, and expressed tlie determination to exert 
his influence with the General Assembly to effect that object; all 
of which is more specifically set forth in the report of a sub-com- 
mittee especially charged with this branch of their instructions, 

3. Upon the suggestion of your committee, that one of the prin- 
cipal causes of popular complaint and dissatisfaction consisted in 
the fact that many of the Trial Justices and other officers and 
agencies of the law were incompetent, and so unec|ually distributed 
as to prevent convenient and ready access, his Excellency replied 
that he fully appreciated the force of the remark, and knew that 
this was one of the most fruitful causes of the difficulties which 
have existed during the last six or eight months — that, until recent- 
ly, he had had trouble in finding a proper class of men for Trial 
Justices and other officers, and that he was satisfied that much of 
the personal violence and indifference to law was due to the fact 
that the people have not the means of enforcing the law within 
their reach. 

4. In reply to an inquiry from your committee as to his opinion 
of minority representation, the Governor was clear and explicit in 
his indorsement of the plan, believing, as he said, that it would do 
more to destroy prejudice, prevent ill-feeling and educate the ma- 
jority than any event which could occur — that they would be the 



104 

gainers sliould the Legislature at its next sef^yion pass an act pro- 
viding for minority representation. 

5. In regard to the election laws, the Governor was very decided 
in the opinion that they should be amended, alleging as the reason 
that as they now stand, distrust was created in the minds of the 
people, and temptation offered for the commission of fraud. He 
added that at the next session of the Legislature he would urge a 
change, so that the ballots could be couiited in public as soon as the 
polls were closed. 

6. Your committee urged the inability of tlie people, after paying 
the taxes now being collected, to })ay a second tax in November 
next. His Excellency said in reply, that it liad been represented 
to him "by well-informed citizens in several parts of the State, that 
for a large class of citizens, whose taxes were small in amount, the 
month of November was a more convenient time of payment than 
any other ; and he hoped tnat to this class of our citizens the col- 
lection of the tax at that time would not prove oppressive. But, 
yielding to the representation of your committee, he requested them 
to report to the Convention that he would authorize the GomiDtrol- 
ler to suspend the collection of the taxes in all cases where the pay- 
ment thereof was inconvenient to the tax-payers. That this post- 
ponement shall extend to the first of March, 1872, and that the 
penalty for non-payment should not be enforced in the mean- 
time. 

In brief, to recapitulate, your coniniittee understand his Excel- 
lency as liaving committed himself U) the following propositions: 

1. Thai he has signed no other bonds tha)i those set forth in the 
debt statement made by the Comj)troller General, and that there 
have been no fraudulent or illegal is.«ues. 

2. That the State and Oounty offices, both elective ami appoint- 
ed, are unnecessarily multiplied, and should be reduced in number, 
and many of them in pay. 

3. That many of the ofiicials charged with the administration of 
justice have been incompetent and inaccessible to the people, and that 
many of the disorders complained of in the State have been created 



105 

by this cause, and that he will replace them with competent per- 
sons whenever he can do so. 

4. That he is in favor of the cumulative system of voting and 
minority representation, and would be glad to see it made a part of 
the law of this State. 

5. That the election laws are defective, lead to fraud, and should 
be materially amended, and that he will exert his influence to that 
end. 

6. That he would have the collection of the taxes of next No- 
vember postponed until the 1st of March, 1872, and not enforce the 
penalty for non-payment until that time. 

Your committee are aware of the wide-spread feeling of distrust 
of the present administration, and whilst they share to a great ex- 
tent this common feeling, they think it would be wise and proper 
that a cheerful response be made to this effort of his Excellency to 
secure retrenchment and reform in the administration of public af- 
fairs. 

There has been nothing in the different interviews between your 
committee and the Governor which leads them to believe that he 
desires or intends to repudiate his assurances of an earnest desire 
to correct many of the evils and grievances of which we complain. 

That frauds the most flagrant, and corruption the most danger- 
ous and demoralizing have been perpetrated by many of the State 
officials, your committee have no doubt ; but an investigation has 
scarcely been embraced within the scope of their instructions, even 
if they had had the power, under the sanction of the law, iuid the 
time to have done so. 

In this connection, however, your committee reeomnuind the 
adoption of the following resolution : 

Hesolved, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to 
direct the Attorney-General to inquire into all cases of alleged 
frauds upon the Treasury that may be brought to his notice ; and 
to make suitable provision for the remuneration of inform ei's, and 
to the compensation of additional counsel, which may be necessary. 
That the Attorney- General be instructed, if found necessary or 



106 

expedient, to attach the property of persons ascertained to be m 
default to the Treasury, or in any other way to be unlawfully in 
possession of moneys of the State. 

A committee on the part of the Legislature is now in session in 
this city, charged with the investigation of the transactions of some 
of the State officials. Your committee recommend the appointment 
of a Committee of Three, by the President of this Convention, 
whose duty it shall be, as representatives of a lai'ge body of the tax- 
payers of the State, to tender their services and co-operation to 
the Legislative Committee, in aid of the investigation now going on. 

Your committee not having the authority of law to press their 
inquiry into the numerous alleged frauds and corruptions, to a 
satisfactory conclusion, and recognizing the occasion as one of too 
much gravity to be hastily and inadvisedly passed upon, have 
declined to be influenced in this regard by the unsworn statements 
of individuals. The foregoing recommendations, however, if carried 
out, will test the sincei-ity of those who have the authority for in- 
vestigation, and lead to a purification of the body politic. 

The adoption of the following suggestions is respectfully recom- 
mended for the consideration of the Legislature at its ne.xt session, 
with a view to the enactment and modification of certain laws : 

1. Inci-ease the revenues of the State by additional legislation, 
insui'ing the full and faithful payment of the royalty on phosphatic 
deposits dug and mined, pursuant to the terms of the charters of 
the respective companies. This may be effected by tbe a]ipoint- 
ment of reliable bonded inspectors or weighers, who should be re- 
quired to determine by weight or measurement the number of tons 
mined before sale or shipment, and who shall receive for compen- 
sation, a reasonable commission on amounts secured to the State 
through his office. 

Your committee are advised that a large proportion of the pub- 
lic expenses might be met from this source, if properly collected, 
whereas, but $1,900 have so far been paid into the State Treasury. 

2. Repeal or prevent in future acts vesting valuable franchises,, 
the right to dig and mine phosphates, etc., etc., in companies, all 



107 

or a great part of whose corporators are members of the Legis- 
lature at the time of the grant. 

3. Stop the drawing of money from the Treasury for alleged 
current legislative expenses on the order of the Speaker of the 
House or President of the Senate, in advance of any appropria- 
tion, which practice is in direct violation of Section 22, Article 2,. 
of the Constitution, which provides: "That no money shall be 
drawn from the Treasury, but in pusuance of an appropriation 
made by law." 

4. All appropriation bills shoukl specify items under each gene- 
ral head. For instance, the practice is to cover, under head of 
" Legislative expenses," the payments to alleged employees, clerks, 
messengers, etc., of the General Assembly, who, as your committee 
are informed, out-number the members thereof. 

5. Reduce the number of State and county officers, by blending 
the duties of two or more offices in one, and reduce the fees of 
Coroners, which are excessive. 

6. Enact a law limiting each session of the Legislature to thirty 
days. 

7. A law should be enacted, or the present law moditied, pro- 
hibiting County Conamissioners from issuing any check until the 
account upon which it is alleged to be based, is first audited and 
approved by the County Treasurer or some other independent 
officer, and requiring the Commissioners to publish quarterly a 
statement, in the nenn^st newspaper, of all amounts collected and 
paid by them, from whom collected, to whom paid, and on what 
account. 

8. Let the old law regulating the fees of solicitors be substituted 
for the present. 

9. Repeal the Act granting a salary of -1^2,500 per annum to the 
Adjutant-General. The office is a mere sinecui'e. Its practical 
duties can be performed l:)y a clerk, to be appointed by the Gov- 
ernor, acting as Assistant Adjutant-General. 

10. Limit each public officer to one salary or compensation, for 
the same service. (Vide Lieutenant-Governor's pay.) 

IL Abolish commission to codify the laws. Tt costs the State 
$L5,000, and does no duty which cannot be discharged by a clerk. 



108 

The duties of your committte, Mr. President, have been deli- 
cate and arduous, and the time within which they were expected to 
discharge them, too limited to permit such a thorough investiga- 
tion of the matters committed to them, as they justly deserve. 
They have had to rely upon statements voluntarily furnished by 
tlie officials themselves, and the evils sought to be corrected may 
not find immediate redress. They trust, however, that such in- 
formation as tliey have been able to procure, may lead to other and 
further investigation by the committee above recommended, and 
that the suggestions and remedies which they have had the honor 
to make, may result in good to the whole people of the State. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

M. C. Butler, 
Chairman of the Committee. 

The report was considered immediately and agreed to. 

Mr. Trenholm, from the Committee of Eleven, to whom was re- 
ferred resolutions, regarding the finances of the State, made the 
following 

REPORT : 

The Committee of Eleven, to whom was referred the resolutions 
regarding the iinances of the State, report as follows : 
<> 

This resolution having been published in the newspapers before 
the assembling of the Convention, your committee were promptly 
apprised by his Excellently the Governor, and by the other State 
functionaries referred to, of their readiness to furnish the required 
information. The Comptroller-General furnished to the Conven- 
tion themselves a printed "statement of the funded debt of the 
State of South Carolina, and information relative thereto." In 
this " statement, the total funded debt of the State," is set down as 
the sum of $7,665,008.98. To the sum of the funded debt, viz: 
$7,665,908.98, must be added, in order to exhibit the sum total of 
the debt of the State, the cash advanced to the Treasury by the 
Finaiu-ial Agent. This is set down by Mr. Kimpton at the round 



109 

Bum of $800,000, and also the further snm of iB400,000, for bonds 
sold by Mr. Kimpton since the date of the (JomptroUer's re])ort, 
viz : making a grand total of debt of i^8,8(i5,908.V)8. 

The sura total of bonds remaining unsold in the hands of the 
agent, as already shown by the ComptroHer's statement, was $2.- 
200,000. Fx-om this amount, must be now deducted the amount 
Bold as above stated, $400,000, leaving $\ ,800,000. This amount 
of bonds, namely, $1,800,000, is pledged for the security of the 
$800,000 of cash advanced by the agent. 

In view of this condition of the finances of the State, your com- 
mittee would respectfully make the following reconuuendation, 
viz: 1. That his Excellency the Governor be respectfully requested 
to confer with the financial agent (who is now in Columbia), and to 
telegraph to New York not to sell any more bonds of the State 
at less than 80 per cent. 

2. That his Excellency be respecti'ully i-equested to proceed to 
New York, and to make the most economical arrangenient possible 
for holding this $1,800,000 of bonds, until rhe above limit of 80 
per cent, becomes attainable. 

3. At 80 per cent., $1,000,000 of bonds will discharge the debt 
of $800,000 due to the financial agent, and release -^800,000 of the 
hypothecated bonds. This sum of bonds j'^our committee recom- 
mend, that it may be respectfully suggested to the Governor to use 
in the following manner : 

The amount of funded debt now payabia. and ihat approaching 
maturity combined, is as follows: 

Fire Loan Bonds, Baring loan 1440,000 

Fire Loan Stock T 304,000 

Amount over due §744,000 

State House Bonds to mature on the 18ih of July, 1871- _ "250,000 

$994,000 

Your committee recommend that the $1,800,000 of surplus bonds 
above referred to, as soon as they may be relieved from hypotheca- 
tion, be applied to the satisfaction in part of the above debt of 



110 

$994,UUU. The $744,U0U of over-clue bonds constitute so much of 
the fire loan debt for which the capital of tlie Bank of the State is 
pledged, and your committee iiidulov in il,,. }i,,]i,. rliat it may be 
discharged, fiom that source. 

If the arrangements suggested l)y the committee can be carried 
into effrct, the result will 1)p as fujlows: 

Sum lotal of <lcbt already stated $8,865,908 98 

Add the bonds now in the hands of the Agent, and 

proposed to be issued 1,800,000 00 

§10.665,908 98 

Deduct the advances made 1»\' the Agent and pro- 
posed lu be paid i 800,000 00 

89.865.908 98 

Deduct the amount of funded debt proposed to be 
paid by !|^800,000 of surplus bonds on the basis 
of 80 per cent, for the bonds, viz 640,000 00 

$9,225,908 98 

Should the remainder oi the $994,000 of lunded 
debt, now pressing for payment, be discharged 
out of the assets of the Bank of the State, vi/.- .';54,000 00 

The linal sum of the funded debt will be_-_ ;?8,87],908 98 

• 

D may be reasonably objected to these suggestions, that the pres- 
ent market price of the bonds is only 65 per cent., while the calcu- 
lations made pru(^eed on the basis of 80 per cent, for the bcjiids. 
But it is quite reasonable to expect that upon this exhibition of the 
exact condition of the debt of the State, and upon the concurrence 
of his Excellency tlie Governor, in the general course of arrange- 
ment herein recommended, there will be an immediate and consid- 
erable advance in the market value of the bonds, and greatly in- 
creased facilities for holding them off the market. 

Referring now once more to the sum of the funded debt, the com- 
mittee deem it pio[ier to state that they had expected to verity the 



Ill 

■account by the evidence's in the Comptroller's utllco, Itut tliey were 
disappointed. 

The Act ol' August, 20. 180S, authorizing an issue of bonds for 
the payment of the bills receivable of the State, provided that the 
bonds shoukl be signed by the Governor and Treasurer. Subse- 
quent acts followed the same coarse. In consequence, there is no 
record kepit in the Comptrollei-'s office. The preceding statement, 
nndcr the authority of this ofHcer, is derived from the Treasurer. 
It is confirmed by the Governor, who united with tht- Treasurer, 
Mr. Parker, in giving to the committee eveiy assurance of its cor- 
rectness. And it appears to your committee that the several issues 
and sums of bonds described are of unquestionable legality and 
force as oblications of the Stnte. It seems proper further to explain 
that the bonds, under Act of August 26, 1868, " for the payment of 
the interest on the public debt," were at first issued with the above 
words embodied in the form of the bonds. That these words being- 
deemed objectionable, another set of bonds for a like amount 
($1,000,000) was prepared and executed, and were sent to the 
financial agent to supply the place of the objectionable issue. Of 
this objectionable issue of bonds, $500,000 were long since returned 
iincl cancelled, as appears by the assurances given to your com- 
mittee by the Comptroller and Treasurer. Upon the authority of 
Mr. Kinipton, Agent, and Mr. Parker, Treasurer, it appears, also, 
that a further sum of $400,000 has been returned ^\■ithin a few 
•days. These have not yet been cancelled. Mr. Kimpton also 
iissured the committee that the remaining $100,000 would soon be 
returned ; that there was not any longer delay in effecting the 
exchange than arose fi'om the necessity of waiting until the several 
loans matured, for which the iirst bonds had been pledged. 

The arrangement of having a hnancial agent in New York, does not 
make a favorable impression upon the committee. Copies of the 
accounts rendered by him for the fiscal years of 1869 and 1870 are 
annexed to this report for reference, marked respec-tively B. and C. 

The large sum in money or bonds always in the hands of the 
agent is attended with unusual risk in the management of the fi- 
nances of a State ; and the difhculty of keeping the accounts of the 
agency and of ihe Treasury in constant and regular accord is great. 



112 

It will bo seen I'or example, by account. " B" that at the end of the 
year, the total of the sums charged to the Treasurer by Mr. Kimp- 
ton, was .$1,007,924.54, while the sums credited to Mr. Kimpton by 
the Treasni-er, amounted to only $623,000 ; exhibiting a discrepancy 
of $384,924.54, or disagrement of $384,924.54. In like manner, 
account " C" exhibits a disagreement of $294,726.92. 

It is true these accounts were recently brought into reconcilement, 
or rather into conformity with the accounts of the agency. There 
is added to both an account of the subsequent interest by which 
this was effected. Nothing appears in these accounts to impeach 
their correctness, but it will be seen how wide open is the door for 
errors and disputes, if for no graver misfortunes. It will be seen 
that among the items brought to the credit of the account by the 
subsequent entries, are these, viz : 

Account (B) fiscal year, 1869, for expenses, includ- 
ing interest as explained to the committee $ 64,996 71 

Acccount (C) fiscal year, 1870, for expenses, in- 
cluding interest 94,977 42 



$159,974 13 



These appear to have been passed to the credit of the agency 
without being audited. The committee understood Mr. Parker, the 
Treasurer, to say that he had not received an account of the sever- 
al items of expense that go to make up the two sums of $64,996.71, 
and of $94,977.42. These charges, as will hereafter be shown, add 
enormously to the interest of the public debt, nor is this the end. 
The committee learned from Mr. Kimpton that his own proper 
commission as agent was not included in the above sums, and that 
the rate of compensation is not even determined or agreed upon. 

Your committee would have preferred to show with precision 
what rate of interest results from the addition of these charges, 
but it is seen that the full sum of the expenses is not yet known, 
neither do the accounts show the exact average sum of the cash 
advances made to the Treasury. Some approximation to the truth 
may, however, be made in this way. By the report of the 
Comptroller-General for 1870, pp. 101 to 104, the following ap- 



113 

pear to have been the quarterly bahinces due to Mr. Kiniptoa, by 
the Treasury : 

October 1st, 1869 $515,424 54 

Jiumary 1st, 1870 180,009 54 

April 1st, 1870 548,347 84 

July 1st, 1870 573,317 21 

October 1st, 1870 880,843 95 

Toial $2,697,943 08 

This sum, divided by the live periods, gives an average of 
$539,588.61, as the sum of the advances, and seven and a half 
months as the period of time for which they were made. The 
interest and other charges, as shown in another part of this report, 
was for twelve mouths $94,777.42 or $7,914.78 per month. For 
seven and a half months it is $59,360.85, or at the rate of 17 per 
cent, per annum. And to this is yet to be added the agent's com- 
missions. Mr. Kimpton is under the impression that his average 
advance was greater than the sum stated by your committee. Btit 
even if it was $700,000 instead of $539,588.61, the interest (with- 
out his commission) would amount still to the high rate of ISs pei' 
cent, per annum. 

The loss stistained by the State in this mode of dealing is obvious, 
and it is augmented apjoarently by the fact that all this risk, ex- 
pense and trouble resulted in the sale of only $1,000,000 of bonds, 
and these at the moderate rate of 70 per centum. The act provid- 
ing for the payment of the interest on the pitblic debt in gold had 
been passed, and had added very largely to the annual charge. 

The interest paid by the Comptroller, according to 

the report of 1870, is $190,879 44 

The coupons paid by Mr. Kimpton amounted to 209,014 50 

$399,893 94 
The premium on gold, paid by Mr. Kimpton, and 

charged in the same account (C) is 84,362 00 

$484,255 94 



114 

Thus raising the interest on the liui'lcd .Jt.-l.t th;it y.-ar to about 
7} per cent., instead of G per eent., and aihling $84,362 to tlie 
expcjises of the State. Tlie face of the bonds, it is true, rose to 
80 per cent, and upwards : but the State derived no benefit from 
the expense .she had incurred to produce ilie advamo. Only one 
million was sold, and those at 70 per cent. 

In reviewing the financial condition of the Stat'', it was impossi- 
ble to fail of being gravely impressed by the enormous expense of 
the present day as compared with the past. Your committee earn- 
estly appealed to his Excellency Governor Scott to use all his pow- 
er to enforce retrenchment in every department. It wa.s impossi- 
ble for your committee, in the short time allotted to their arduous 
task, to examine into the various accounts that exhibit these expen- 
ditures, and to .suggest in what jiarticnlars they may be (airtailed. 

They procured from the Treasurer, in a compendium form and 
attach to this report, accounts D and ]], showing the receipts and 
disbursements of the Treasury for the years 1869 and 1870. They 
commend these interesting documents to the careful examination 
and earnest consideration of the tax-payers an<l of the Legislature. 
They believe that all necessary retrenchment of expenses may be 
effected, and that it is the .shortest and best avenue to escape from 
the finaticial difficulties we suffer, and the surest means of restoring 
quiet and confidence among the people of the State. Less than 
$660,000 will pay the interest in gold on the funded debt, and 
$1,200,000 of revenue .should abundantly suffice to defray the in- 
terest and all other expenses. 

The committee believe that by a vigorous and persistent economy 
our expenses may Ite I'cduced to this sum, iind the taxes proportion- 
ately abated. 

The examination of Mr. Kimpton's account in detail was found 
impossible as his books of account are necessarily in New York. 
The importance of such an examination is, however, recognized in 
the interest of the State, and for the satisfaction of the financial 
agent, by whom it is courteously and cordially invited. The same 
may be said of the several officers of the State to whom application 
for information was made by your committee. 

Mr. Neagle, the Comptroller General, was particularly pressing 



IK) 

in his solicitationa that all liit^ l)0(jks aiiil ;.irrounls luiglil be tlaj- 
rouyhly and critioally examinrd. 

Ah the result ol' tlie deliberations of the committee on the mut- 
ters referred and now re[)orted on, they woukl respectfully recoin- 
rnentl to the Convention the addpiion of the followinu; : 

Mc.sohcd, As the sense of this C'onvention, That llie funded 
debt of the State as described in the report ol tlie Committee of 
Eleven of this body is a valid debt, a)id that the honor anil funds 
of the State are lawfully pledged ior the redemption thereof. 

Resolved, That the general plan for the arrangement of the 
funded debt, suggested by the committee, be recommended to the 
favorable consideration of his Excellency the Clovernor. 

Be.-iolved, That to complete the examination of the accounts of 
the financial agent in New York, the Committee of Eleven be aii- 
thorized to sit during the recess of the Convention, and to send a 
sub-committee to New York for the purpose indicated, and that the 
said committee and sub-committee be further authorized, if i-equir- 
ed by Governor Scott, to assist by their counsels at home or in New 
York in the proposed negotiations for the fiuMl adjustment of the 
funded debt. 

Ilesolved, That his Excellency Governor Scott be, and he is liere- 
by earnestly solicited to make a systematic review of the various 
classes of expenditures for the public services, and to use his au- 
thority and influence in arresting the present extravagant expendi- 
tures, and in substituting a system of rigid economy and accounta- 
bility in every department of the ptiblic service. That to this end 
his Excellency be earnestly and res2:)ectfully urged to adopt the 
sum of $1,200,000 as the utmost limit of expenditure, and exert all 
his power and influence to reduce the expenses, including the inter- 
est on the funded debt to this sum, and to diminish the ta.xes in the 
same extent. 

Mesolvcd, That the Comptroller and the Treasurer be required b}' 
his Excellency the Governor not to destroy the $400,000 of objec- 
tionable bonds referred to in the I'eport, but to cancel and hie them 
so that the fact of the cancellation thereof may at any time be de- 
monstrated, and that the same course be pursued in reference to 



116 

all reileenied cbligatiois of the State, of any character whatso- 



ever. 



The report was considered immediately and adopted. 

Mr. Ball, fi'om the Committee of Eleven, to whom was referred 
a resolution re^rardinp the increase of offices since 1868, made the 
following 

REroRT : 

The committee to whom it was referred to investigate and re- 
port to this body to what extent State and County offices have been 
unnecessarily increased since the inauguration of the State govern- 
ment in 1868, and with the view to retrenchment and reform, to 
Avhat extent they might be dispensed with, beg leave to report : 

That they have examined and considered the matters embraced 
in the resolution as fully as the limited time at their disposal 
would a<lmit. 

They are satistied from this examination that the number of 
offices of the State and County have been unnecessarily increased, 
and that the salaries appertaining to the same have been fixed at 
amounts largely in excess of a fair compensation for the services 
remlered ; and that as to those ofiices absolutely necessary to a due 
administration of the government, the salaries have in a like manner 
been inordinately increased. In support of this view your com- 
mittee beg leave to submit the following comparative statement of 
offices and salaries for the vears 1866 and 1871 : 



117 



■COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF OFFICES AND SALARIES IN THE 
YEARS 1866 AND 1871. 

1866. 1871. 

Governor $3,500 $3,500 

Private Secretary 1,200 2,000 

Messenger 100 300 

Kent 300 

Secretary of State. Clerk and Fees 500 4,000 

Adjutant and Inspector General 2,500 

Comptroller and Clerks 3,700 4,499 

Treasurer and Clerks 3.200 5,800 

Auditor of State and Clerk 4,000 

Superintendent Education and Clerk 3,500 

Chief Justice 3,500 4,000 

Associate Justices 7,000 

Judges 30,000 28.000 

Attorney General and Clerk 1,100 4,000 

Clerk of Court of Appeals 800 1,500 

Attendant Court of Appeals 250 800 

Solicitors 4,500 8,000 

County Auditors 31,500 

School Commissioners 31,500 

Code Commissioners- 10,500 

Legislative Expenses 45,850 400,000 

Contingent Fund Executive Department 25,000 20,000 

Contingent Fund Treasurer 1,000 

Contingent Fund Attorney General 500 

Contingent Fund Comptroller 500 

Contingent Fund State Auditor 500 

Contingent Fund Adjutant and Inspector Gen- 
eral 500 

Contingent Fund Superintendent Education- 500 

Contingent Fund Secretary of State 500 

Contingent Fund State Librarian 150 

This statement is not intended as a full comparison of all public 
expenses during the two periods compared, but is made with the 
view of exhibiting to the Convention the relative scale of expendi- 
tures by the present government so far as herein exhibited. 

Upon a conference with his Excellency Governor Scott, in ac- 



118 

cordance with the term? of the resolution undor which this com- 
mittee was raised, his Excellency made substantially the following 
suggestions, in which your committee concur : 

1. The olhce of County Auditor may be dispense<l with, except 
in Charleston County, and the Treasurer discharge all the duties 
now performed by the Auditor and Treasurer. 

2. The duties of State Auditor may, with propriety, be dis- 
charged by the Comptroller-General. 

3. The duties of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Agricultural 
Statistics may be transferred to the Secretaiy of State, without ad- 
ditional compensation. 

4. The place of Assistant Adjutant General can be dispensed 
with, anil the duties performed by the Adjutant-General. 

5. Assistant Librarian of the Supreme Court may be dispensed 
with. 

KLECTIVE OFFICERS. 

1st. The compoiisalion of School Commissioner may be reduced 
in all the counties, to an equivalent for their services. 

2d. The compensation of County Commissioners should be re- 
duced, the number of days for duty fixed by law, and the per diem 
allowed only for days actually on duty; their accountability for 
moneys received for licenses, etc., should be regulated by law,, 
requiring them to report to competent authority the amounts 
received, as heretofore such moneys have not been accounted for 
in many counties. 

The fees of Trial Justices, Solicitors, and Constables might be 
proper matters for legislation. 

The Adjutant General's salary should be reduced to a commen- 
surate amount with his services. 

In addition to the cases above particularised, youi- committee 
are of oi)inion that ^'lO per diem, dui-ing the sitting of the Senate, 
is ample compensation to the Lieutenant Governor, while that offi- 
cer receives the further salary of i?2,500 per annum. 

In conclusion, your committee would say generally, thatlhey are 
of ojnnion that the rate of coniiionsatioii now paid to the various- 



119 

State and County oHicers miglit be very materially reduced, with 
great advantage to the people of the State, and without detriment 
to the public service. 

The report was considered immediately and adopted. 

Mr. Gannon, from the Committee of Eleven, made the following 

REPORT : 

The Committee of Eleven, to -whom was referred a. preamble and 
tjundry resolutions, as to the best mode of restoring confidence in and 
reforming the government by conferring with his Excellency, and 
the appointment of cunimittees of examination, etc., report : 

That the subject matter embraced therein, having been fully con- 
sidered and set forth in a report made by this committee, they ask 
'to be discharged from the further consideration of the same. 

Also, the following : 

The sub-co]nmittee, to whom was referred a resolution to report 
on the propriety of proposing some plan through the Governor or 
otherwise, by which the laws requiring all official notices to be pub- 
lished in certain papers be repealed, or so modified as to remove 
said requisition, beg leave to rej)ort, that they have considered 
the same. We fully concur in the impropriety and injustice of the 
above law, and recommend the passage of some law, by wliich said 
grievance may be removed. 

The above reports were considered inimediately and adopted. 

Mr. Butler, from the Cojnmittee of Eleven, to whom was re- 
ferred the resolution that a committee of five be raised to examine 
and report upon the action rjf the State P^iiiancial Agent, made the 
following 

K.EPORT : 

Thii Committee of Eleven, to whom was referred the resolution 
that a committee of five be raised to examine and rej)ort upon the 



120 

accounts of tlit; State with the Financial Agent of the State at New 
York, and tliat they apply to the Governor for his aid and authority 
to mahe this examination, beg leave respectfully to report : 

That, inasmuch as the same matter is provided for in the report 
of a sub-committee of this committee, they ask to be discharged 
from the further consideration of the same. 

The report was considered immediately, adopted, and the com- 
mittee discharged. 

Mr. Jones, from the Committee of Eleven, to whom was referred 
the resolution regarding the recalling of bonds issued under the 
Act of 26th August, 1868. reported as follows : 

REPORT : 

The comniiltoc to whom this resolution was referred have con- 
sidered the same, and recommend its adoption. 

The report was considered immediately, adopted, and the resolu- 
tion agreed to. 

Mr. Warley introduced the following resolution : 

Resolved, That this Convention express its unqualified disap- 
proval of all secret political associations, by whatever name they 
may be called, and entreat all good citizens, irrespective of party, 
to discountenance any and all .such organizations. 

The resolution was considered immediately and agreed to. 
' Mr. Baldwin introduced the following preamble and resolu- 
tion : 

Wherkas, By an act of the General Assembly passed at the 
regular session of 186S to 1869. the State waived and postponed an 
existing lien of the State to secure a firmer endorsement of the 
bonds of the Chaj-leston and Savannah Railroad Company, by the 
State, in order to enable the said Railroad Company to execute a 
jiew mortgage for its own benefit; therefore, 



121 

Besolrrd, That it be referred to Messrs. Porter & Conner, Attor- 
neys at Law, to examine the said act, and to take such measures 
for the protection of the interests of the State in the said Savan- 
nah and Charleston Railroad Company, as thov may deem practi- 
ble and wise. 

The President, Hon. AY. IJ. Porter, stated that Messrs. Porter & 
Conner had already delivered a legal opinion on the matter em- 
braced in the resolution, and he would therefore beg leave to with- 
draw such names. 

This was agreed to. and, on motion of Mr. Baldwin, the names 
of Messrs. Pressly, Lord & Inglesby were substituted for those of 
Messrs. Porter & Conner. 

The resolution as amended was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Chamberlain, the vote whereby the report of 
Mr. Ball, from the Committee of Eleven, on resolution relative to 
increase of State and County ofEce^s- since 1868 was adopted, was 
reconsidered. 

Mr. Chamberlain moved to amend the report by striking out af- 
ter the words " Secretary of State." in the tabular statement, the 
words " and fees." 

The amendment was agreed to and the report as amended 
adopted. 

Mr. Senn. of Richland, introduced the following resolution: 

Ecmlved. That a committee of three be appointed by the chair, 
who shall have charge of the publication of the proceedings and 
the defrayal of the expenses of this Convention : and that the Sec- 
retaries of the Convention be authorized to pay over the funds in 
their hands, to the said coiumittee. 

The resolution was considered immediately and agreed to. 

The chair appointed as the committee, Messrs R. D. Senn, T. Y. 
Simons and Myron Fox. 

The chair announced that the several Railroad Companies had 
tendered a free passage home to the delegates. 

Mr. Aldrich. of Barnwell, introduced the followino; resolution : 



122 

Reaohcd, That the thanks of the Convention be returned to the 
several Railroad Companies for the transportation so liberally of- 
fered to the members of the Convention. 

The resolution wa« considered immediately and agreed to. 

Mr. T. W. Woodvirard, of Fairfield, introduced the following re- 
solution : 

licsolved, That the Executive Committee be inatructed to incjuire 
into the proceedings of the Land Commissioner and report fully to 
this Convention what amount of bonds has been issued for the pur- 
poses of the same ; what has become of those bonds ; if sold, what 
has been done with the proceeds ; how much land has been bought ; 
from whom purcha-sed, and at what prices ; how much, if any, of the 
said lands has been sold, and what amount is still remaining in 
the hands of the Commissioner. 

The resolution was considered immediately and agreed to. 

The chair announced the fallowing delegates as a committee un- 
der the report of the Committee of Eleven, to confer with the Spe- 
cial Investigating Committee appointed by the General Assembly : 

Messrs. Edwin J. Scott, Richard Lathers, Wm. Wallace. 

The following wei'e appointed a committee of five to investigate 
and report a plan to restore the credit of the State and to confer 
with the representatives of the Fire Loan securities: 

Thomas Y. Simons, James Chesnut, F. F. Warley, Gabriel Cannon, 
M. C. Butler. 

The Convention I'esolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, 
with Hon. James Chesnut in the chair. 

Mr Aldrich offered the following resolutions: 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention are due and are 
hereby tendered to the Hon. W. D. Porter, for the able, corteous, 



123 

and impartial manner in which he has presided tn-er its delibera- 
tions. 

Resolved, That the Chairman of thin comniittee be requested t-c^ 
communicate this action to the Hon. W. D. Porter. 

Mr. Aldrich moved the unanimous adoption of the resolutions, 
which was agreed to. 

The Committee then rose. 

Mr. Chesnut, in a few appropriate and eloquent remarks, com- 
municated the resolutions to the President, Hon. W. J). Porter. 

The President responded in the following words : 

n I felt gratified at the appointment to this honorable position,, 
how much is that gratification increased by the expression of your 
satisfaction at the manner in which the duties of the chair have 
been discharged. This has been to me altogether a duty of plea,s- 
ure. It was my good fortune to preside for years over one branch 
of the General Assembly of this State in days that are gone, never 
to return. You remember those years — they were years of pride, 
of honor and of happiness. Let me pay to that body the tribute of 
saying that during the whole period of which I speak, memory 
brings to me no remembrance of any word or act of a member 
towards myself, or any fellow member, that calls up a blush of 
shame or a feeling of regret. There was so much of kindness, of 
high courtesy, and unexceptionable decorum ! It was, in truth, an 
assembly of gentlemen ! The memory of the honor of presiding 
over them will be dearly cherished to the latest day of my life ! 

I cannot refrain from saying what I feel — that this is a re-union 
of the same kind. I see so rnajiy of my old associates — give and 
receive so many warm congratulations and friendly pressures of 
the hand. It is like a meeting of survivors alter some shipwreck 
or other great and fearful disaster. What a pleasure to look again 
in each others faces, to see the kindling of each others eyes, and 
feel the throbbing of each others hearts ! We have been made dearer 
friends by the perils we have run, and the sacrifices we have made. 
For this Convention I will not speak in praise of it, but we need 
not be ashamed of it. Let results speak in its behalf and appeal 
for it to the country for its approval. 

I think it for the common good that this botly has determined to 
adjourn subject to future call. It may or it may not be necessary 
to meet again. So far, it has deserved well of the country. If its 
fjiture action be undignified or unharmonious, it will accomplish 



124 

iiotliing; but if it act as it heretofore acted; if it avoid Federal 
and State party politirs, and wage war oidy against maladministra- 
tion and corruption in whatever party ; if it welcome to its ranks 
all gentlemen of whatever party who are in earnest in reforming 
the abuses and oppressions of which we complain, and who will 
help us to obtain good magistrates, wholesome laws, and an economi- 
cal and honest administration of the public finances — if it do these 
things, it will accomplish infinite good and entitle itself to the grat- 
itude of the country. I think we have done much to remove mis- 
understanding, and inaugurate an era of better feeling, and better 
conduct of our public affairs. 

Thanking you for the honor conferred u[)on me, and wishing you 
a safe and happy riiturn to your homes, I bid you fai'ewcll I 

Mr. Aldrich introduced the following resolution : 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention be extended to his 
Excellency Governor Scott and the other officers of the State 
government for the use of the Senate Chamber, and also his general 
courtesy towards the Convention and the members of its committees 
during their official relations connected with the delicate and im- 
portant interviews between them. 

The resolution was considered immediately, and agreed to. 

The President then, at thirty minutes past one, P. M., declared 
the Convention adjourned sine die, subject to the call of the Execu- 
tive Committee. 



THE PUBLIC DEBT OF THE STATE. 



The following is ;i statement of the Bonds and Stock of the 
State on which its name appears, outstanding, as near as could be 
ascertained during the short session of the Convention : 

Amount of Bonds and Stock out- 
standing on the 1st of October, 
1867. as exhibited by the re- 
port of the Comptroller Gener- 
al for November, 1867, exclu- 
sive of Bonds issued for mili- 
tary defence $5,407,215 23 

To this mitst be added the differ- 
ence between the true amount 
due on the Fire Loan Sterling 
Bonds past due, unpaid and 
payable in London, to wit : 
.$788,222 27; and that stated 
in the Comptroller General's 
report, to wit: $484,444 51-- 383,777 76— $5,790,792 99 

Amount due on Bonds issued un- 
der acts of 1860 and 1861 for 
military defence, as by Comp- 
troller's report for Oct., 1867 _ 2,854,679 78 



Total as principal of Oct., 1867- $8,645,672 77 



126 

Bun(U is.sued by present ad- 
rninistrntioii. as folJows : 

I lidtT ;i(l .ijipiuN c'd August 26, 

]8(>8, for redemption of bills 

reeeivablL' $500,000 00 

Under act approved August 26. 

iNCuS, loi' pjiymeiit of interest 

on public debt LIOO.OOO 00 

Under act approved September 

15, 18()K, tur funding bills of 

Bank of ihe State of Soutli 

Carolina 1,258,550 00 

UndtM' act apj>roved February 

17, 1869. for relief of the 

Treasury 1 ,000,000 00 

Under act approxed March 27, 

18G9, for Land Commission.- ^ 200,000 00 

Under act approved March 1. 

1870, for Land ('Mimaission.. ._ 500,000 00— $4,558,550 00 



Total outstanding obligations of 

the State as j.rincipal $13,204,222 77 

Stateiucut of Contingent Lia- 
bilities ol' the State of South 
Carolina arising from the en- 
dorsement of llailvoad Bonds; 

South Carolina Railroad Bonds, 
payable in 1868. secured by 
first mortgage $2,093,312 40 

Charleston and Savannah Rail- 
road Bonds, payable in 1877, 
secui'cd by ilrst mortgage 505,000 00 

Savannaii and Charleston Rail- 
road r.ouds. under Act of 18G9. 



127 

payable in 1889, secured by 

first mortgage 245,750 00 

Laurens Railroad Bonds, payable 
in 1879, secured by first mort- 
gage 75,000 00 

Spartanbiirg and Union Railroad 
Bonds, payable in 1878-79, se- 
cured by first mortgage 350,000 00 

Greenville and Columbia Railroad 
Bonds and Certificates of In- 
debtedness, payable in 1881, 
1882, 1883 and 1888, under 
Acts of 1861, 1866 and 1869, 
secured by first mortgage 1,426,545 80 

Blue Ridge Railroad Bonds, un- 
der Act of 1868 4,000.000 00— 8,695,608 20 



Indebtedness of tbe State as prin- 
cipal and guarantor, inclusive 
of Bonds issued for military 
defence $22,899,830 97 

Less amount due as of Oct., 1867, 
on Bonds issued for military 
defence 2,854.679 78 



Indebtedness of tbe State as 
principal and guarantor, exclu- 
sive of war debt $20,045,151 19 



v^ 



LRJe '07 



PROCEEDINGS 



TAX-PAYERS' CONVENTION 



SOUTH O^ROLIISr^, 



HELD AT COLUMBIA, BEGINNING MAY 9th, AND 
ENDING MAY 12th, 1871. 



Published by Order of the Convention. 



CHARLESTON, S. C. : 

EDWARD TERRY, PRINTER, BOOKSELLER AND STATIONER, 
No. 149 Meeting Street, opposite Cliarlestoii Hotel. 

1871. 



v-'hC'*' 



-i- 



